News Releases and Statements

Charles Pelts, 35, of Marietta, was also sentenced to a lifetime supervised release. Pelts will also be required to register federally as a sex offender when he is released from prison. He pleaded guilty May 14.

The Sinclair Services Company subsidiary, which operates hotel and resort properties in Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, California, and Idaho, will avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for its full cooperation with HSI’s investigation and taking action to correct its hiring practices.

Authorities arrested nine defendants and seized what is estimated to be at least $65 million in cash and bank deposits stemming from asset forfeiture actions filed as part of the ongoing investigations.

Robert Bandfield, 70, a U.S. citizen; Andrew Godfrey, 51, citizen of Belize; Kelvin Leach, 34, and Rohn Knowles, 29, citizens of the Bahamas, Brian D Wit, 45, and Cem Can, 44, citizens of Canada; and six corporate defendants: IPC Management Services, LLC; IPC Corporate Services Inc.; IPC Corporate Services LLC (collectively, IPC Corp); Titan International Securities, Inc. (Titan); Legacy Global Markets S.A. (Legacy); and Unicorn International Securities LLC (Unicorn), allegedly coordinated a $500 million offshore asset protection, securities fraud and money laundering scheme.

Randy Coleman, Jr., 32, formerly of Pittston and his co-conspirators, including Gregory Boone, who pleaded guilty last week, admitted to participating in a scheme to use minor females to engage in prostitution.

Quan Liu, 26, of Kansas City, Missouri, pleaded guilty Sept. 9 to one count of conspiring to harbor aliens who were in the United States illegally.

Kevin Michael Stehlik was sentenced by United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell to 396 months imprisonment, to be followed by supervised release for life and restitution in the amount of $25,000.00.

Walter E. Ackerman, 56, of Lebanon, Kansas, pleaded guilty Sept. 8 to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. In his plea, he admitted using AOL email to send child pornography to another user.

Joseph Schesso, 36, who has already served three years in state prison for attempted child molestation, was arrested in 2011 after he came to the attention of law enforcement in Germany.

The following five men from Michoacan, Mexico, who pleaded guilty just one month after their March arrests,were convicted of conspiring to harbor and transport illegal aliens and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence: Jose Aviles-Villa, 32; Antonio Barruquet-Hildeberta, 46; Jonathan Solorzano-Tavila, 30; Jose Cesmas-Borja, 26; and Eugenio Sesmas-Borja, 20.

Tony Lasiter, 32, of Duenweg, Missouri, pleaded guilty to the charge contained in an Oct. 1, 2013, federal indictment.

Gerald W. Jones, 42, was sentenced Sept. 4 to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Jones had previously pleaded guilty May 12 to leading a conspiracy to distribute at least one kilogram of PCP.

Court documents filed in the case reveal that on Aug.19, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Otay Mesa port of entry discovered cocaine in a hidden compartment in the floor of a trailer that was being driven by Eslava-Corral.

Gregory Boone, 30, of Pittston, Pennsylvania, admitted to conspiring with others to recruit, harbor and transport minor females to engage in commercial sex acts for money during the summer of 2013 in Luzerne and Dauphin counties.

Zexiong Chen, 28, and Haotian Chen, 26, who are unrelated, were charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods. It is alleged that in February 2013, the defendants incorporated Max Wireless Group, Inc. as a vehicle for importing and reselling cellphone cases, many of which were counterfeit.

Ian Holman, 33, of Jasper County, Missouri, pleaded guilty to the charge contained in an Oct. 1, 2013, federal indictment.

Eduardo Santiago-Rivera, 45, pleaded guilty Jan. 13, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Velez-Rive in the District of Puerto Rico to nine counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography. He was charged by superseding indictment May 13.

Christopher Briseno, 45, of Grand Prairie, Texas, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison on one count of pandering of child pornography. Briseno previously pleaded guilty in May 2014.

Charles Marquez, 54, was sentenced Sept. 3 as the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, together with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), as part of Operation Cross-Country, a nationwide initiative that focuses on child prostitution.

Todd Balo, 48, pleaded guilty before Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever, III, after a federal grand jury returned a criminal indictment against him Nov. 23, 2013.

Frances Salas, 27, a U.S. citizen and resident of Phoenix, and Jesus Millan-Rodriguez, 31, a Mexican national, were booked into the Maricopa County Jail, each charged with kidnapping and possession of marijuana for sale.

A seizure warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was unsealed Wednesday, announcing the seizure of approximately $500,000 in assets traceable to corruption proceeds accumulated by Chun Doo Hwan, the former president of the Republic of Korea. This seizure brings the total value of seized corruption proceeds of President Chun to more than $1.2 million.

Jorge Gamez-Nieto, 41, of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison for possessing with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine and possessing a loaded handgun in furtherance of that offense. Gamez-Nieto pleaded guilty to these charges May 15.

William Edward Osman, 34, of Orlando, was also ordered to serve a life term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender upon completion of his custodial sentence. He pleaded guilty Feb. 28.

Carlos Edgar Sandoval-Uriel, 31, of Mexico, was arrested as part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) that has resulted in the conviction of 12 defendants on marijuana trafficking and money laundering charges. This OCDETF investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Huntersville and Cornelius police departments.