News Releases and Statements

Abraham J. Ahumada, 23, of Laredo, went before U.S. District Judge, Marina Garcia Marmolejo to plead guilty for conspiracy to transport noncitizens resulting in death. During his court hearing, he admitted to leaving the victims behind after a car accident.

Robert Martinez Hinojosa, 63, Alice, Texas; and Matthew John Sayles, 42, Raul Benavides, 48, Juan Lebrado Pena, 31, and Gilberto Saldana Jr., 41, all of Corpus Christi, pleaded guilty to violating the RICO statute. Hinojosa received 268 months, while Sayles, Benavides, Pena and Saldana received respective sentences of 90, 108, 210 and 271 months.

Ehab Sadeek, a 49-year-old Egyptian national living in Massachusetts, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 405 months in federal prison following multiple convictions of child exploitation.

HSI San Diego special agents Kenneth K. Padilla, Stirling A. Campbell, Brent H. Moores, and Cyber Security Specialist Benjamin J. Lockyer – members of the OCC team – received the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Meritorious Service Silver Medal Award during a special ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station San Diego, April 29. Group Supervisory Special Agent James R. Grundy and Cyber Operations Officer Allen W. Latimer were awarded but not present during the ceremony.

Charles Anthony Lecara, aka “Eric,” “Bloodhound,” 43, of San Antonio was sentenced May 2 by a federal judge to serve 87 months n federal prison. On Jan. 13,Lecara pleaded guilty to three counts of aiding and abetting false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms.

Pedro Adan Sevilla, 25, of Phoenix, Arizona, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

Charles Robert Wright, 61, is scheduled to be sentenced July 6, before U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez.

Sean Patrick Fosler, 28, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

Darwuin Sai Kabrera-Garsia 26, plead guilty April 28 for smuggling three noncitizens resulting in the death of one.

The IPR Center, in conjunction with Michigan State University’s A-CAPP Center, hosted a discussion, April 26, with Sean Williams, Co-Founder of Detroit -vs- Everybody to discuss brand protection to help creatives protect their business against IP theft in support of World Intellectual Property Day 2022.

Benjamen Charles Slaughter, a 24-year-old resident of Friendswood, Texas, pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 4, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Kory Mammen, 52, from Sioux City, Iowa, pled guilty on January 4, 2022, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. In 2000 and 2011, Mammen was convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Heather Sorgdrager, age 41, from Sioux City, received the prison term after an October 18, 2021, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Zachary Zane Stephenson, 45, of Tucson, previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

Guatemalan national Moises Paiz Guevara, 47, was flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Guatemala International Airport on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit.

Fabian Hernandez, 29, Emmanuel Ferral-Tonche, 20, both of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, were sentenced April 26 in federal courts to 60 months. Both are expected to face removal proceedings upon completion their sentence. At the hearing Tuesday, the court heard additional evidence that neither man attempted to help look for or offer water to the noncitizens they smuggled despite the great heat.

Volkan Gogebakan, 31, was flown from El Paso to Turkey on a commercial flight. Upon arrival on Friday at the Istanbul Airport, Gogebakan was turned over to Turkish officials.

Matthew Benjamin Foltz, 29 used an online messaging application “Whisper” to engage in sexually explicit conversations with an undercover agent.

Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, a/k/a “Insolente” and “Trankilo,” age 24, of Landover, Maryland was sentenced to life in federal prison, on April 25, for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also known as MS-13, and for three counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, as well as for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine.

Amanda Zaragoza, 29, from Edinburg, Texas, was sentenced April 22 in federal court to 65 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Ana Luisa Ponce, 54, from Brownsville, Texas, was sentenced April 22 in federal court to 262 months in federal prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard Ponce had admitted to previously transporting narcotics for the same drug trafficking organization.

The IPR Center and the RIAA will implement an aggressive multi-layered strategy to strengthen the digital ecosystem, conduct joint training events, educate consumers on the dangers of illegal streaming, enforce the nation’s intellectual property rights laws, and dismantle large-scale online criminal enterprises.

This elite unit of eight, based out of the Tohono O’odham Nation, covers 2.8 million acres, including a 76-mile stretch of border shared with Mexico.

Camden Chase Plumb, a 43-year-old resident of Corpus Christi, was sentenced April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 190 months in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release following completion of his prison term.

The three-month trial focused on four brutal murders, in two of which Parada personally participated. The federal jury also convicted Milton Portillo-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Little Gangster,” age 26; Juan Carlos Sandoval-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Picaro,” age 22; and Oscar Armando Sorto Romero, a/k/a “Lobo,” age 22; on the same charges. Portillo-Rodriguez, Sandoval-Rodriguez, and Sorto Romero were additionally convicted of multiple counts of murder in aid of racketeering.