News Releases and Statements

The Dallas Office of ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) announced Monday the sentences of eight separate cases of criminal aliens who were sentenced in March after their convictions for illegally re-entering the United States after they had been previously deported, and other aggravated felonies.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of International Affairs (OIA) expanded its footprint on the continent of Africa with the opening offices in Nairobi, Kenya and Dakar, Senegal. OIA now has 75 offices in 48 countries around the globe.

Juan Aguilar, a Mexican national who formerly resided in California, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Ronald Brown, 57, of Largo, Fla., pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of receipt of child pornography, March 25. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each possession count and between five and 20 years in federal prison for each receipt offense.

A Potomac, Md., man was sentenced Friday for obstruction of agency proceedings, in connection with false statements he made to investigators during his background investigation for a high-level government security clearance.

An Auburn man was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison and five years' supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and possession and distribution of cocaine.

The indictment alleges that Advantage Framing Systems Inc., of Spring Hill, Kan., knowingly employed illegal aliens.

John Nutt of Asbury Park, N.J., was sentenced April 1 for distributing images of child sexual abuse. The sentence is the result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A man from Guadalajara, Mexico, who attempted to smuggle a significant quantity of cocaine and methamphetamine through San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in 2011 has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison.

Oytun Ayse Mihalik, 40, of La Palma, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton Tucker. Mihalik pleaded guilty Aug. 10, 2012, to one count of providing material support to terrorists.

Paul Rudolph McGowan, a Jamaican criminal alien with prior felony convictions for the possession and distribution of marijuana, was sentenced to more than 7 years in federal prison Tuesday for illegally re-entering the United States following a prior removal. ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) arrested the man July 5, 2012, in Atlanta.

Balarkishan Patwardhan is accused of providing fraudulent immigration documents to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in support of employment visa petitions for 19 Indian nationals.

Moonseop Kim, a South Korean national illegally present in the United States, pleaded guilty Wednesday to transporting illegal aliens into Mississippi for financial gain in connection with a sex trafficking organization.

Brian Julian Gallardo of Sherman, Texas was arrested during a traffic violation near Abilene, Texas.

An illegal alien from Mexico, Angel Campos Tellez of Maryland, pleaded guilty to transporting individuals to engage in prostitution, which carries a maximum of five years in prison. The case was investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C., which participates in the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force.

In 2003, 15 agents from what would eventually become U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deployed to Iraq, three days after the agency's creation, in a campaign dubbed Operation Desert ICE.

Hector Capetillo Rodriguez from Edinburg, Texas was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for enticing a minor following an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Port Arthur and Port Neches police departments.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from the Lakeland Police Department and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), seized 7,846 pirated DVDs and nearly $170,000 in Lakeland Thursday as part of a global counterfeit motion picture DVD investigation that extended to the People's Republic of China.

A Manhattan doctor and 48 other individuals were arrested this week as a result of a long-term prescription pill investigation.

Sean Ian Rose, age 32, of Calgary, has been charged with two counts of luring, and one count each of extortion, making, possessing and accessing child pornography. Rose was arrested at his residence in southeast Calgary March 28 without incident.

Special agents of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested Antonio Abraham Cruz-Cruz and Henry Ramos Agustin in Maryland Wednesday morning after both were indicted on document fraud related charges.

Thomas Cramer of Brighton, N.Y., pleaded guilty March 27 to sex trafficking of minors as the result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York State Police and Greece (N.Y.) Police Department.

James Brown pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing more than 600 images of child pornography on his laptop following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of the FBI.

A previously convicted sex offender from Delaware, Scott Odham, was sentenced to federal prison Wednesday. From 2010 through April 2011, Odham sent repeated and frequent Facebook and MySpace messages, some of which were sexually explicit, to more than 50 high school and middle school females who lived in the western Maryland area.

Oneil Martin, aka David Motta, a Jamaican national who was illegally residing in the United States, was sentenced Monday to 66 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug offense.