News Releases and Statements

Donald Record, 52, was sentenced Tuesday to 40 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in May to possessing prepubescent child pornography.

Miguel Angel Macias, 54, of Friendswood, Texas, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison by U.S. Circuit Judge Gregg Costa on each conviction. In handing down the concurrent sentences, Judge Costa noted the large number of child pornography images attributed to Macias — more than 20,000. Macias was further ordered to serve 20 years of supervised release. He must also register as a sex offender. Macias pleaded guilty to the charges July 23.

Colombia is the latest country to join the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement and private sector agencies dedicated to combating online child sexual exploitation and other forms of transnational child sexual exploitation. An official signing-in ceremony was held in Amsterdam, which was attended by the Colombian ambassador to the Netherlands His Excellency Eduardo Pizarro Leon Gomez and General William Rene Salamanca, Director of Special Service, Colombian National Police.

Alisha Johnson, 33, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison without parole for her actions during the incident.

Ken Ngombwa, 54, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been charged with the following crimes: one count of unlawfully procuring or attempting to procure naturalization or U.S. citizenship, one count of procuring citizenship to which he was not entitled, one count of conspiracy to unlawfully procure citizenship, and one count of making a materially false statement to agents of the United States.

Christini Lynn Brashear, 45, of Rocklin, California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings to an indictment charging one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Susan Xiao-Ping Su, 44, of Pleasanton, appeared in court before U.S. District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar. In addition to the prison term, Judge Tigar ordered Su to forfeit $5.6 million in proceeds generated by the fraud scheme and pay more than $900,000 in restitution. The case is the result of a probe by the multiagency Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, overseen by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Following her prison sentence, Libia Hernandez-Garcia, 60, of Miami, Florida, was also ordered to serve three years on supervised release and ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello to pay more than $70,000 in restitution.

Oscar Rodriguez, 37, was sentenced on racketeering, conspiracy and marijuana trafficking charges a following his conviction in April 2014. Rodriguez’s convictions stem from "Operation Green Venom," a coordinated multi-agency investigation led by HSI.

A 47-year-old El Salvadoran national, who was being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since Oct. 2, passed away Thursday night at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital (MMH) in San Antonio.

Terry Lee Clark, 48, of Corpus Christi, was contacted by authorities after receiving an anonymous tip in July. Clark gave permission to law enforcement to search his residence. During the search, a computer was discovered in his bedroom with child pornography on the screen. The computer and several media storage devices were seized revealing several images and videos containing child pornography.

Of the 62 individuals arrested, 54 had previous criminal convictions including: aggravated assault, drug possession, burglary, alien smuggling and drunken driving.

Christopher Wayne Howard, 26, of Joshua, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of transferring obscene material to a minor. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings ordered a presentence investigation report; a sentencing date will be set after that report is completed. Howard remains on bond.

Schiller Desgrottes, 66, a licensed internal medicine physician, faces 227 counts of criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree.

The LOI, aimed to combat child pornography, was signed between Attaché Cho and SMPA Director General Chul-Jun Kim. It formally recognizes the partnership between HSI Seoul and SMPA in investigating cybercrimes, reinforces the outstanding working relationship between HSI Seoul and the SMPA in combatting child pornography and brings the issue to the forefront within Korean society.

Hugo Adalberto Adrian Ramirez, 42, of Ontario, California, Edgar Hurtado-Ramirez, 45, of Ontario, and Luis Fernando Mancillas Medina, 49, of Los Angeles, have been charged in Florida with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

These new partners greatly strengthen the IPR Center, which was founded in 2000, and serves as one of the U.S. government's key weapons in the fight against criminal counterfeiting and piracy. The center uses the expertise of its 22 member agencies to share information, develop initiatives, coordinate enforcement actions, and conduct investigations related to IP theft.

On Feb. 28, HSI special agents arrested Jose Fernando Rodriguez-Vargas, of Carolina, after they received information from the Puerto Rico Police Department regarding Rodriguez-Vargas's attempt to use his cellular telephone to clandestinely take photographs of a 14-year-old girl at a local supermarket.

German Ardon-Zavala, 57, was removed to El Salvador Oct. 29 via government charter flight from Dallas and was turned over to officials from El Salvador’s Policia Nacional Civil (PNC).

Jorge Molina-Sanchez, 35, of Mexico, was convicted by a federal jury in May 2013 of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine and at least one kilogram of heroin, conspiracy to launder proceeds of drug trafficking, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

Karin Yamilec Aguilar-Melgor, 22, was sentenced Oct. 29 by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales to 78 months in prison after accepting her guilty plea June 5. Aguilar-Melgor must also serve three years of supervised release.

The following 11 defendants pleaded guilty to child porography charges in April; they were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy of Missoula: Tony Bronson, 53, from Gary, Indiana; Charles Crosby, 43, from Trenton, New Jersey; Steve Humiston, 57, from Tacoma, Washington; John Johnson, 58, from Locust Grove, Virginia; Robert Krise, 66, from Gaithersburg, Maryland; Scott Long, 53, from Portland, Oregon; Ian Nosek, 42, from Charlottesville, Virginia; Phillip Morris, 42, from Jeffersonville, Indiana; Joseph Purificato, 23, from Mount Vernon, Missouri; Paul Wencewicz, a 48-year-old resident of Polson, Montana; Jeffrey Woolley, 53, from Nicholasville, Kentucky.

Blasina Vargas, 53, Dolores Vargas, 63, and Ignacio Escandon, 48, were arrested in Houston and will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances H. Stacy Oct. 29.

According to the court documents, the 22 defendants participated in a conspiracy to steal more than $400,000 by forging money orders from the U.S. Postal Service before cashing them at various banks.

Jeremiah Malfroid, 33, was charged by criminal complaint Oct. 20 for production, receipt, distribution and possession of child pornography. Following a search of Malfroid's former Columbus-area residence in connection with the probe, officers with the Franklin County ICAC found nearly 700 sexually explicit videos of minors on his laptop computer and other digital media.