News Releases and Statements

Special agents and police officers arrested 21 members and associates of the Murder Moore Gangstas (MMG), a violent drug trafficking crew based in and around the Moore Houses in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. They were charged with distributing crack cocaine and other drugs. These charges resulted from an investigation by the ICE's HSI...

Charles Linwood Heard was sentenced Wednesday to 26 months in federal prison, following his March 2012 guilty plea to one count of attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor.

A former mayor of Columbus, N.M., Eddie Espinoza, was sentenced Thursday to four years and three months in federal prison in connection with a firearms straw purchasing and trafficking scheme. Espinoza is the fourth of 12 convicted defendants to be sentenced in this case. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.

Kerry Wayne Feaster was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal following his guilty plea in February 2012 to one count of transporting child pornography. Feaster initiated text contact with an 11-year-old child. The child's parent saw the texts and contacted ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to pursue the investigation.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced that effective immediately, certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings.

Connell Wilson Cook was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison following his November 2011 guilty plea to one count of transporting child pornography. Cook admitted downloading several child pornography images from the Internet, planning to later sell them on the Internet.

A federal jury Thursday convicted a Puerto Rican man, Luis Angel Garcia Torres, on 12 counts relating to trafficking counterfeit goods. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Torres used the Internet to obtain and distribute counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs.

A federal indictment unsealed this week charges three foreign nationals with involvement in related conspiracies and transactions involving more than $2 million in high-quality counterfeit currency being produced in Peru and the Dominican Republic. The charges are the results of an investigation ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)...

A federal jury convicted Charles Johnson June 14 for receipt and possession of child pornography, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore. There were more than 300 images of child pornography on Johnson's computer.

Victor Manuel Rivera, at large since January, is one of 50 individuals indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged participation in a conspiracy to commit identification fraud in connection with a scheme to traffic the identities of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens and their corresponding identity documents.

Three Guatemalan nationals arrested in Lynn, Mass., who were wanted by Guatemalan authorities for the rape and murder of a female, were removed from the United States today by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Seven individuals and four check cashing businesses were charged today for their alleged roles in separate schemes to violate the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The defendants allegedly failed to follow reporting and anti-money laundering requirements for transactions totaling more than $50 million.

Jose Manuel Hernandez-Iturralde,28, was sentenced by United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard for his role in a drug trafficking organization that operated in North Carolina from 2000 through 2010.

Charles Leroy Earl pleaded guilty Tuesday to distributing child pornography, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Forensic analysis of digital media seized from Earl revealed 63,152 images and 11,755 videos of child pornography. Earl had already served 12 years in prison for assaulting a child.

The last two of ten defendants apprehended for conspiracy to commit identity theft and sale of fraudulent Social Security cards were sentenced in federal court this week, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Romero Mendoza was arrested June 7 for sexually enticing a minor over the Internet. Mendoza used an online social networking application to attempt to meet for sex what he believed to be a 15-year-old boy. It was actually an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a minor as part of a joint investigation to locate online predators.

Sherny Kojongian Saroha, a former Indonesian bank executive convicted in absentia in that country for her role in a fraud scheme that cost that country's government more than $260 million, was deported Wednesday and turned over to the Indonesian National Police, capping a three-year effort by U.S. ICE to investigate the case and gain her removal...

Daniel Alvarez, a member of the Partido Revolucionario Mexicano gang, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in federal prison for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute marijuana. The prison sentence resulted from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The case was prosecuted by an ICE attorney designated by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington to prosecute immigration and customs related cases in federal court.

Donovan Ray Kendrick of Nederland, Texas pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing child pornography. The investigation was conducted by by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jose Gutierrez-Valenzuela was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison for illegally reentering the country following deportation. Gutierrez-Valenzuela was deported from the United States in 1995. He had a 24-year criminal record in California that included convictions for firearm charges, drug possession and drug trafficking.

Clarence Robert Ward of Trinity, Texas pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender. Ward was convicted in 1998 of indecent contact with a minor in Polk County, Iowa. In March 2010, Ward moved to Texas. Ward failed to update his sex offender registration with the state of Iowa and register with the state of Texas.

Day in and day out, tireless ERO agents escort criminal aliens as they are deported to their country of origin or moved domestically. The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, which is the research group for the Federal Aviation Administration located in Oklahoma City, readies these agents to handle unforeseen circumstances during those flights.

Anthony Ramirez was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison Friday for possession with intent to distribute cocaine. This sentence resulted from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of U.S Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Border Patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety...

Maksym Shynkarenko, a Ukrainian citizen who founded and operated a hardcore child pornography website, appeared in Newark federal court today to face child exploitation charges. He was extradited from Thailand over the weekend.