News Releases and Statements

Todd Fleming, 53, from McKinney, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury April 17 and charged with 24 counts of sexually exploiting a child, and one count of possessing child pornography.

Richard Dinizo is accused of videotaping the sexual abuse of five minors, who were all under the age of 11 years-old when the alleged crimes occurred.

The government proved that Michael Pena participated in a drug trafficking organization that transported large amounts of marijuana, concealed in the hulls of altered shallow-bottom fishing boats.

Benito Aguilar-Ozuna was charged along with three others as the result of an investigation that began in 2006.

"On Thursday morning, 350 agents and officers of Denver's Metro Gang Task Force and other agencies arrested people who have been charged by indictment with drug trafficking crimes. Thirty-three people were arrested throughout Colorado's ""Front Range"" April 25. "

Emil Moldovan, 40, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. that upon his release from prison, he must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office has filed felony charges against three local vendors identified during Operation Fashion Faux Pas, a crackdown by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Orange County retailers suspected of dealing in counterfeit designer goods.

On behalf of the United States and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. ICE signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) April 22 with Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller General Abdullahi Dikko Inde.

Two Mexican nationals unlawfully residing in Baltimore were sentenced to federal prison Tuesday and Wednesday for conspiring to operate a document mill in Baltimore and selling thousands of fraudulent government identification documents manufactured as part of the conspiracy.

Two men from China, who were found with more than 14,000 fake luxury items, both pleaded guilty to producing counterfeit goods, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

Federal authorities Wednesday announced the filing of criminal charges against seven individuals for their role in plundering and smuggling swim bladders belonging to the endangered Totoaba fish that lives exclusively in Mexico's Sea of Cortez.

Solomon Blue Waters, 42, of London, England, pleaded guilty April 24 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward B. Atkins in the Eastern District of Kentucky to using the Internet to engage in sexual activity with a minor.

Philippe Jeannard, 61, of La Rochelle, France, is charged with one count of fraud in connection with an identification document.

Billy Wayne Johnson pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to a superseding information charging one count of transporting child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. A forensic evaluation of Johnson's laptop and thumb drive that were seized revealed more than 1600 still images and 194 videos of child pornography.

James W. Vertullo, 51, of Pittsburgh, was indicted by a federal grand jury June 6, 2012 and arrested by HSI special agents June 13, 2012. He subsequently pleaded guilty to the charge in December 2012.

A concrete company became the first employer in Yuma to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in a nationwide program designed to strengthen hiring practices and combat the unlawful employment of unauthorized workers.

A federal jury convicted German de Jesus Ventura, 35, a citizen of El Salvador living unlawfully in the country and residing in Capitol Heights, Md., of conspiring to transport and entice females to travel interstate for prostitution; transporting females for prostitution; enticing females to travel interstate for prostitution; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and possessing a gun in furtherance of sex trafficking.

Christopher Dale Harrison, 32, from Port Neches, Texas, was arrested April 19 following a federal criminal complaint charging him with possessing, distributing, receiving, and producing child pornography. Â Harrison appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith F. Giblin April 22.

Indalecio Castro-Ponce faces possible life in prison after being found guilty by a federal jury on charges stemming from his role as the transportation coordinator for a methamphetamine distribution ring operating in the southwestern United States.

Sandra Rivas, a Los Lunas, N.M., woman who worked for a local business, was sentenced Thursday to 42 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release following her conviction on bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.

A federal jury found two citizens of the United Kingdom, Paul R. Gunter and Simon Andrew Odoni, guilty Friday for their role in an international investment fraud and money laundering scheme following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Secret Service.

John David Baker used computers and interactive computer services to engage in online conversations with several minor children over the Internet. Baker served as a talent judge for a talent competition in Florida. In this role, Baker met minor children who were auditioning to work in the art and film industries.

A married couple, illegally in the United States, remain in federal custody after special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested them Wednesday on criminal complaints charging them with selling fraudulent identity documents.

Walter Brown, a customer service representative at the Osceola County Tax Collector's Office, was arrested April 19 and charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to knowingly, and without lawful authority, produce identification documents in violation of federal law.

Two men, who flew into Lubbock Aero airport Wednesday evening, were arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Several duffel bags were located in a rear compartment of the aircraft that contained about 98 bundles of marijuana, four bundles of hashish, and two bundles of mushrooms.