News Releases and Statements

Nathaniel Tejeda, 30, of Reno, Nevada, appeared for his sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court Feb. 9. He was indicted in April 2016 for producing and distributing child pornography depicting infants and toddlers.

Erik Rodriguez, 25, pleaded guilty Aug. 24 and, according to court documents, admitted to possessing and producing child pornography.

Marlou Mendoz, 61, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to three counts of failing to provide the required written notice to freight forwarders that she was shipping ammunition to a foreign country.

Six current and former TSA employees, Jose Cruz-Lopez, Luis Vázquez-Acevedo, Keila Carrasquillo, Carlos Rafael Adorno-Hiraldo, Antonio Vargas-Saavedra and Daniel Cruz-Echevarria allegedly smuggled multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine while employed as TSA officers at the San Juan airport.

The defendants charged with extortion are: Velarmino Escobar-Ayala, aka Meduza; Tomas Rivera, aka Profugo; Ismael Alvarenga-Rivera, aka Casper; Willfredo Edgardo-Ayala, aka Chino; Jose David Abrego-Galdamez, aka Largo; Melvin Lopez, aka Sharky; and Alexander Martinez-Flores, aka Pocar.

Robert D. Thorson, 58, was arrested May 30 after his girlfriend contacted the Des Moines police alerting them to sexually explicit images of minors found on Thorson’s phone.

Alexander Greaux-Gomez, 39, was arrested at his place of residence in Salinas following an HSI investigation that revealed that he allegedly engaged in criminal sexual conduct with a 15-year-old female minor.

Sebastian Medina-Cuabras, aka Carlos Lopez-Barraza, 39,was transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico's Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO officers at the Nogales (Arizona) DeConcini Port of Entry.

Arnoldo Antonio Vasquez, a native of El Salvador, is alleged to have concealed and misrepresented his involvement in the extra-judicial killing of 10 civilians in San Sebastian, El Salvador, in September 1988, when he was an officer in the Salvadoran military.

According to the indictment, from March 2014 through October 2015, the four defendants conspired to violate the IACA by displaying and offering for sale jewelry manufactured in the Philippines in a manner that suggested that it was Indian-produced and the product of American Indian tribes.

Martires Molvan-Figeureo, 54, was escorted by ERO officers via an ICE Air Ops charter flight to Louisiana, where he then boarded a flight to the Dominican Republic, where he was turned over to local authorities.  He entered the United States legally, but failed to depart the U.S. as required.

Forty-four BESTs currently exist throughout the country at major gateways to the United States like the Miami Seaport, the Southwest Border and the New York Seaport/Canadian Border.

Joseph Edmond Cleveland, 25, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janis to 15 months in prison. In handing down the sentence, Judge Jack noted an aggravating factor that Cleveland attempted to use his status as a serviceman to avoid detection.

Miguel Valencia-Sandoval, 33, of Champaign, Illinois, made his initial appearance in federal court in Urbana Thursday. The indictment charges Valencia-Sandoval with aggravated identity theft and making a false statement of U.S. citizenship in April 2012 on a U.S. passport application by allegedly using another person’s identity and stating he was a U.S. citizen when he was not.

Andrew Craig Sustaita, 30, of Spring, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury Feb. 1 on charges of producing child pornography.

According to evidence presented at trial and court records, Ijaz Khan, 42, of Sante Fe, New Mexico, was part of a conspiracy that smuggled ancient artifacts into the U.S., including pottery and bronze weapons stolen from burial sites and coins from a cave temple in Pakistan called the Kashmir Smast.

According to court documents, Bruce Lee Scott, 30, received numerous images of child pornography through an internet-based file sharing program. After conducting a search warrant on his residence, investigators found that Scott possessed more than 1,000 pictures and 46 videos of child pornography on his laptop. 

Hee Sun Shim (also known as Leonard Shim and Leo Shim), 53, of Beverly Hills, the owner and manager of the schools, pleaded guilty Thursday morning to conspiracy and immigration document fraud.

According to court filings, Anthony Lee Gambino, 44, from Farmington, New Mexico, was the owner and operator of Gambino Security Safety Corp., a security company based in Aztec, New Mexico.

Paul Bradley Meagher, 43, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to serve 10 years in prison.  Meagher had previously pleaded guilty plea to receiving and distributing child pornography via the internet.