News Releases and Statements

Patrick Lee Jewell, 34, admitted to communicating with an individual on Craigslist via email regarding the exchange of child pornography images in November and December 2013. According to court documents, HSI special agents executed search warrants at Jewell’s residence in February 2014.

Gregory L. Bridges, 38, was residing in Seattle and working as a senior program manager for Amazon.com when he first came to the attention of special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) who suspected him of possessing thousands of images depicting child sexual abuse.

During the 12-day enforcement action, ERO officers apprehended 64 aliens with criminal convictions. The remaining 37 fall under the agency’s enforcement priorities as recent immigration violators or important federal interest cases. Those arrested had criminal histories with past convictions for drug trafficking, DUI, weapons violations, child sex offenses, identity theft, and other serious criminal offenses. Two of those taken into custody now face federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Yousif Mosleh, 26, of Manhattan, has been associated with two retail food stores in the area that engaged in sales of synthetic cannabinoids in exchange for benefits issued by the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). He is also linked to conspiring with others to sell other items not eligible for sale under SNAP in exchange for SNAP benefits.

Jesus Paramo, 47, from Mesquite, Texas, has been on bond since his arrest in August 2014. U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater remanded him into custody following the sentencing hearing.

Casey Gibson, 23, admitted to receiving and viewing images of child pornography in his email account. Gibson’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14 before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

A grand jury returned a superseding indictment Wednesday, adding charges against Ying Lin, a former station chief for an international air carrier (the Air Carrier), for smuggling, obstruction of justice and wire fraud. The superseding indictment also includes an earlier charge of structuring financial transactions.

Artis Hunter, 49, of Union Township, New Jersey, the alleged ringleader, and Melissa Phillip, 41, of West Orange, were arrested on charges of first-degree money laundering, first-degree conspiracy, second-degree identity theft and second-degree theft by deception. The third defendant, Laquan Jones, 42, of Newark, is being sought on an arrest warrant on the same charges. 

Elmer Tinoco-Eutimio, 22, was turned over to Mexican authorities Aug. 31 at the Lincoln-Juarez Bridge in Laredo.  Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republic (PGR) issued a warrant for his arrest for homicide on Dec. 2, 2015. According to PGR, on Feb. 11, 2015, Tinoco-Eutimio broke into a home in Luvianos, Mexico, where he allegedly used a hammer to murder an elderly woman.

From Aug. 23 to Aug. 30, HSI special agents and its CCSF counterparts seized 2,386 kilograms of cocaine and 1,010 kilograms of marijuana which represented one the largest seizures since the creation of the strike force.

Rickie Friar, 67, of Millington, was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release after his term of imprisonment by U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. Friar previously pleaded guilty to the criminal charges in May.

During Friday’s operation, defendant Connie Su Moser, aka “Vivian” and “Song Ye Hong,” 63, was arrested at her home in Lewisville, Texas.  Defendant Kum Shugars, 67, was arrested at the Doll House.  Moser is the owner of the Doll House; Shugars is one of the managers.  In addition to the arrests, the Task Force seized about $420,000 from Moser’s home, about $70,000 in her bank accounts, and her 2015 Lexus automobile.

U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez sentenced Felipe Rivera-Paredes, 55, to 210 months imprisonment on both counts that are scheduled to run concurrently. Since Rivera-Paredes is a not a U.S. citizen, he will be placed in removal proceedings after he completes his prison sentence.

Douglas A. Willis, 53, of Naperville, Illinois, is charged with one count of conspiring to produce child pornography, and one count of producing child pornography. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday during an arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary M. Rowland in Chicago.

Sidney A. Lucas, 34, was sentenced Aug. 25 to 33 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $100,000 derived from the counterfeit DVD distribution and money laundering scheme. His co-conspirator and girlfriend, Katrice R. Cleary, 24, was sentenced Aug. 26 to three years’ supervised release and ordered to forfeit $50,000.

Based on data extracted from SEVIS July 7, international student enrollment at U.S. schools increased 5.5 percent compared to July 2015. In July, there were 8,673 U.S. schools with SEVP certification to enroll international students, about a two percent decrease from the previous year.

Wilburn Harmon Jr., 45, from Springtown, Texas, was sentenced Aug. 29 to 132 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo. 

Trinidad Gallegos, 47, was arrested in July 2015 on an indictment charging him with assaulting a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon; he was also charged with being a felon in possessing a firearm and ammunition Aug. 20, 2014, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Juan C. Chavez, 39, will be sentenced to 18 months in prison under the terms of his plea agreement. Co-defendant, David Molinar, 34, also of El Paso, pleaded guilty Aug. 19 in the same case to unlawfully selling drug paraphernalia. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Molinar will be sentenced to 15 months in prison. 

The men have previous convictions for crimes including DUI, aggravated assault, weapons offenses and narcotics manufacturing.

Eduardo Guerrero, 24, was sentenced on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Guerrero also received five years of supervised release.

Cedric Easter, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Easter also received three years of supervised release.

Kyle Snyder, son of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore special agent Steve Snyder, took home a gold medal in the 97-kilogram freestyle wrestling competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics, becoming the youngest Olympic wrestling champion in U.S. history at 20 years old.