News Releases and Statements

Luis Gerardo Alvarado met a girl who lived in Coleman County, Texas, by contacting her through Facebook chat. From mid-March until April 8, 2013, Alvarado communicated with the girl and attempted to persuade and entice her to have sex with him.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and El Salvador's National Police signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) Thursday to further define and strengthen the relationship between the agencies, particularly with regards to the Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU).

A Texas honey broker was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for illegally brokering the sale of hundreds of container loads of Chinese-origin honey, which was misrepresented as originating from India or Malaysia, to avoid anti-dumping duties when it entered the United States.

Forty-seven individuals were charged Thursday with first degree racketeering in a takedown of a violent narcotics distribution network with ties to Mexican drug cartels.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has named Marlon Miller as the new special agent in charge of the two-state Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office based in Detroit.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, working jointly with Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF) officers, arrested Friday an assistant church pastor from Vega Baja, Dolores Pagan-Lozada, for sexually enticing a minor.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, working jointly with Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) partners, disrupted a maritime illegal drug shipment Friday seizing 54 bales of cocaine with an approximate weight of 1,500 kilograms and a street value of $38 million.

Former professional football player Samuel George Hurd III, 28, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in federal prison for his role in a cocaine and marijuana distribution conspiracy. Hurd previously played in the National Football League.

The R.M. Kerner Company, Erie, Pa., has partnered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's employment compliance program, IMAGE, or ""ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was introduced today as the newest permanent observer agency to the American Police Community (Ameripol). ICE is the second U.S. agency admitted to Ameripol.

Kenneth Lewellyn Flowers, 36, was transported by commercial air from Salt Lake City Thursday under escort by ERO officers to his home country and turned over to Belizean authorities for questioning.

Deundrea R. Miller, the second and final defendant in a child sex-trafficking case, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 10 years in federal prison.

Jose Torres, aka 'Jose Quilestorres,' aka 'Carlos Jose Luis,' 47, of Bronx, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark federal court to conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft of government property and aggravated identity theft.

A Montana man was sentenced Friday to 13 years and four months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism officers encountered John Malcolm Nealy, 66, of Florence, Mont., in Arkansas's White Oak State Park on Sept. 3, 2012. Nealy had a stolen license plate on his vehicle at the time and was a fugitive wanted for violating the terms of his release for a prior federal child pornography possession conviction in Montana.

Four members of a virtual kidnapping ring based in Tijuana and Southern California have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly extorting Latino families across the United States, falsely claiming a family member had been kidnapped and demanding thousands of dollars in ransom.

Upon questioning, Travis James McReynolds admitted to obtaining child pornography by chatting with others via the Internet. Forensic analysis resulted in discovering 132 images and 35 videos of child pornography on two seized computers.

Andrew Blane Fields, 62, of Lutz, faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a statutory maximum of life in prison on each of the 5 sex trafficking convictions.

Larry James Kerfoot, 38, of Dundalk, and Robert Marzola, 31, of Essex, were sentenced respectively to 28 and 29 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander.

Joseph Ortiz, a Bay Area gang member linked to multiple murders as part of HSI gang racketeering probe who previously pleaded guilty to 25 federal charges, including three counts of racketeering murder, was sentenced Thursday to five life terms, plus 60 years in federal prison.

Between September 2012 and April 2013, Dustin Metz possessed child pornography on his personal computer at his residence in D.C.

Two sales representatives for Gallant Pharma International, Inc., pleaded guilty Thursday to selling misbranded and non-FDA-approved intravenous chemotherapy drugs and injectable cosmetic drugs and devices.

Mark Lawrence Wilson, a 45-year-old resident of Big Fork, was arraigned and pleaded guilty to unlawful drug user in possession of firearms and ammunition. Sentencing is set for Feb. 20.

Matthew Crisafi, 38, of Hampton, was arrested by HSI special agents on a federal criminal complaint charging him with three counts: the unlicensed sale of firearms; smuggling of firearms from the United States to an overseas destination; and conspiring to commit money laundering in connection with firearms trafficking activities.

Curtis Green pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to distribute and possess with attempt to distribute cocaine. On Nov. 5, in a related case, Jacob Theodore George IV pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute drugs, including heroin.