News Releases and Statements

Special agents with ICE's HSI seized two antique statues Oct. 23 from a Manhattan hotel. These statues were seized as part of an ongoing HSI Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program investigation into Subhash Kapoor, an alleged dealer of stolen antiquities.

A retired New Mexico teacher, Joseph F. Zinkiewicz, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing child pornography under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico. This case was investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) offices in Albuquerque and Greeley, Colo.

Jennifer Chen, the chief financial officer of a Georgia-based paper supply company, was arraigned today on charges of conspiracy to import paper products from China with fraudulent invoices and bills of lading, and to avoid customs duties on such products. The indictment is a result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.

A Haitian national, Benedick Dextra, aka Benedick Louis, pleaded guilty Oct. 18 for violating the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) security program. This plea comes as a result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led Border Enforcement Security...

Despite being warned about the counterfeit Dolby trademarks, Chen and the employee re-stocked their shelves and continued to sell the same DVDs with the same counterfeit Dolby trademarks.

Seven people were sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for their roles in a drug trafficking and money laundering scheme that used Arkansas businesses to hide $315,000 in illegal proceeds from a California-based drug ring.

Igor Borodin pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. district court in Charlotte to trafficking in counterfeit airbags, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

In Soon Kim, the owner of the Kyoto Hot Stone Spa, was arrested Wednesday by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and charged with recruiting prostitutes for her business.

As a thank you for their investigative work and dedication to an international child predator case with a nexus to Kentucky, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear recently commissioned ICE's HSI Special Agent Michael Romagnoli and Detective Sergeant Nathan Coutts of the London Metropolitan Police's International Assistance Unit, as Kentucky Colonels.

Over the past 15 months, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has provided extensive training and capacity building to Paraguay's customs office and other Paraguayan law enforcement partners.

Two individuals from California, Maria Lourdes Aguilar and Victor Yanez-Gutierrez, were each sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison Friday for their leadership roles in a California-based drug trafficking and money laundering organization. The sentences resulted from an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations...

A New Jersey man was arrested Oct. 12 on charges of falsely impersonating a federal officer in order to defraud aliens seeking immigration assistance. The arrest is the result of an investigation being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

A Kirkland man, Jacob Saul Stuart, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison for his part in leading a transnational drug smuggling ring uncovered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and member agencies of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

Estevan Olmos, 40, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute.

Samuel Barnette was charged in federal court Thursday with distributing child pornography. The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Hamilton County Metro Child Exploitation Task Force, Carmel Police Department, Noblesville Police Department, and other state and local partners.

A North Carolina man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison following his guilty plea to sexually exploiting children, announced U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter, District of Montana.

A St. Petersburg, Fla. registered sex offender, Richard Sikorski, was charged via criminal complaint with receipt and possession of child pornography Thursday. The charges resulted from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Zhen Lai, 37, of Quincy, Mass., and Joseph Girouard, 55, of Revere, were arrested this afternoon by HSI special agents and the Massachusetts State Police. Lai was arrested in Quincy and Girouard was arrested in Somerville, Mass. Lai and Girouard are each charged with one count each of trafficking in persons for sexual servitude and keeping a house of ill fame.

Hajian pleaded guilty July 11. Three of his companies, RH International LLC, Nexiant LLC, and P & P Computers LLC, also pleaded guilty that same day.

At the seventh annual general meeting of the Africa Prosecutors Association (APA) held here last week, the U.S. government was represented by a senior official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Sixteen people were arrested Tuesday on alien smuggling and/or drug smuggling charges. The arrests were announced by: U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Sean McElroy, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations; and Chief Charles McClelland, Houston Police Department (HPD).

A Romanian woman, Miruna Eugenia Lixandru, was sentenced Tuesday to 33 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Florida's Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Edwin Monge-Peña, 29, wanted by HSI for drug trafficking, and Luis Daniel Rivera-Carrasquillo, 32, wanted by the FBI for weapons violations, were arrested by USMS and HSI special agents in the vicinity of Paseo de Torre Alta in the municipality of Barranquitas, while they were looking for a third fugitive who remains at-large.

American tourists, with twisted overseas travel plans to engage in child sex tourism, may think they are beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. However, they should know that it is a priority for ICE's HSI to apprehend and prosecute U.S. citizens who engage in sexual acts with minors in foreign countries.

Jesse Tyrone Chavful, a San Antonio man who is charged in a federal superseding indictment with his cousin, former professional football player Samuel George Hurd III, appeared in federal court Wednesday and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.