News Releases and Statements

Rigoberto Munoz-Vargas, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty on Thursday to possession with intent to distribute 1.3 kilograms (2.9 pounds) of methamphetamine and being an alien possessing a firearm. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)...

A Pasadena, Texas man, Roberto Bahena-Garcia, was charged Jan. 25 with federal firearms and drug trafficking violations in an investigation being conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Liberty County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

Twelve individuals were charged in an indictment for their role in a significant drug distribution operation that allegedly trafficked over 30 kilograms of heroin, 12 kilograms of cocaine, 1,000 pounds of marijuana and laundered in excess of $21 million. The joint investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)...

Matthew Alter, 47, of Wichita, pleaded guilty Jan. 31 to one count of possessing child pornography. At the plea hearing, prosecutors told the court that Alter became the subject of an investigation after Italian State Police provided information that a computer user in Kansas was accessing a child pornography website.

"The two owners of LA-based Angel Toy Company, Meichun Cheng Huang and Ling Yu, were sentenced Tuesday to over three years in federal prison for their roles in a cash ""structuring"" scheme that prosecutors say was linked to the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) that allows drug cartels to launder the proceeds of their narcotics trafficking."

A Chula Vista man convicted of serving as the 'transportation manager' for the drug trafficking organization responsible for a highly sophisticated cross-border tunnel that yielded a 30-ton marijuana seizure has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Two South Texas men, Guillermo Enrique Villarreal and Leoncio Sanchez, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to illegally exporting about 3,000 rounds of ammunition to Mexico without a license. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Neng Yang, 43, of Fresno, Calif., made his initial appearance in federal court Monday. Yang is charged in a criminal complaint with production of child pornography. According to the complaint, Yang, a teacher at Freedom Elementary within the Clovis Unified School District, allegedly used his cell phone to record his sexual abuse of a minor on multiple occasions, between January 3 and January 26.

Alex Campbell, a suburban massage parlor owner, was convicted in federal court on Monday of multiple crimes against four foreign women whom he mentally and physically abused while forcing them to work for him between July 2008 and January 2010.

A U.S. Army Reserve veteran was sentenced on Friday to 19 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release for production of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF).

William Cannon of Springdale, Ark., was sentenced Monday to 70 years in federal prison for production and receipt of child pornography, after a city fire marshal reported he had discovered a child pornography operation while doing a routine fire inspection.

John Stadalnikas pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possession of child pornography, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Paul Kalka of Del Rio, Texas, a member of the Aryan Circle gang, was sentenced on Monday to 240 months in federal prison for his role in trafficking marijuana. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Two Florida men, Chester John Floyd and Pedro Lazaro Rodriguez, were convicted Monday on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Manuel Gomez Barba was sentenced on Monday to eight years and four months in federal prison for illegally exporting firearms, one of which was used to murder ICE HSI Special Agent Jaime Zapata in February 2011.

ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) administratively arrested 20 aliens convicted of sexual offenses in the Carolinas and Georgia Monday through Wednesday as part of Operation SOAR (Sex Offender Alien Removal), which targets criminal aliens who are removable due to convictions for sexual offenses.

The final member of a maritime cocaine smuggling organization, Elias Estupinan Rengifo from Colombia, was sentenced to more than 11 years imprisonment Friday following an investigation by the Panama Express Strike Force South, which includes ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A Phoenix man was sentenced Monday to 20 years in federal prison for importing $400,000 of heroin with the intent to distribute it in the United States.

Ivan Pravilov, 49, was arrested by ICE HSI agents Jan. 14, 2012. He was charged with committing sexual acts with a 14-year-old boy visiting the United States and attending hockey clinics.

A former Navy sailor, Demetrius Richardo Galloway, was sentenced to six years in federal prison on a federal child pornography charge. Forensic analysis showed Galloway's computer media contained a total of 97 videos depicting child pornography. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Jacksonville...

Earl Seth David, the alleged ringleader of a massive immigration fraud mill through a Manhattan-based law practice, was extradited from Canada to face charges in Manhattan Federal Court. This extradition stems from an investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General.

Riley Rich Gibson III was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in federal prison for child pornography violations, including images produced by Gibson using his cell phone to photograph a toddler in sexually explicit poses. This investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Beaumont Police Department (BPD)...

Sippy Lal, Mamta Sharma, and Rani Rachana Singh-Lal were indicted Thursday for their involvement in an elaborate immigration fraud scheme involving foreign nationals from India who paid to enter into sham marriages or engagements with locally recruited U.S. citizens in an effort to legalize their immigration status.

A Mexican citizen, Roberto Guevara-Palomeque, was sentenced in federal court Thursday to four months imprisonment for making a false claim to U.S. citizenship following an investigation by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Anthony Allen Armstrong of Chipley, Fla., was sentenced to 110 months in federal prison for failing to register as a convicted sex offender and for knowingly possessing child pornography following a ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Houston County Sheriff's Office (HCSO), and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) investigation.