News Releases and Statements

According to court documents and evidence presented at the trial of three co-defendants, Juan Garcia-Gomez, aka Scooby, 26, of El Salvador, conspired to participate in the affairs of Mara Salvatrucha, a violent criminal gang also known as MS-13, founded in Los Angeles and active in numerous states across the United States, as well as in El Salvador, Central America, and Mexico.

A local woman, who conspired to distribute methamphetamine, was sentenced July 15 to 64 months in prison following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and local law enforcement partner investigation. Abby Bringman, 34, pleaded guilty Feb. 4 in federal court to distribute methamphetamine.

Deportation officers transferred custody of Vigen Patatanyan, 59, to Armenian authorities at the Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenia, without incident, May 7.

According to court documents, Jose Luis Vega-Arzate, 31, from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, drove into the Border Patrol checkpoint north of Laredo, May 11. At initial inspection, he displayed nervous behavior and had trouble shifting gears.

According to court documents, on May 24, Marthin Rueda Alcorta, 36, drove a tractor trailer into the BP checkpoint north of Laredo. He drove erratically through an inspection lane and nearly hit a K-9 until authorities ordered him to stop. Agents conducted a search of the trailer and discovered 110 people in his trailer; all later determined to be illegally present in the country from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Jahque Dijion Williams, 21, of Los Angeles, previously pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a minor.

The operation, which was conducted during the week leading up a Premier League preseason soccer match July 20 at NRG Park, is part of a nationwide effort called “Operation Team Player”. The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) and the Premier League aided during the operation.

For the 14th year in a row, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) joined 94 Interpol member countries in a coordinated crackdown on illicit online pharmacies dubbed “Operation Pangea XV,” June 23-30. The operation netted more than 7,800 seizures of illicit and falsified medicines, totaling more than three million individual units at $11 million.

Abiel Geronimo Fernandez, 20, from Rio Grande City, was sentenced to 140 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard that Fernandez asked someone to hide marijuana and a firearm while he was awaiting trial. The court also saw pictures from his cell phone of narcotics and firearms. In one, he was taking a selfie while wearing body armor and holding a rifle. In other photos, there were kilogram quantities of narcotics indicating this was not the first time he had transported large quantities of drugs.

Reid Etheridge, 42, was sentenced July 22 to life in prison. A second defendant, Alicia Cronkhite, 30, from Edinburg, was sentenced to 189 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by a lifetime of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional facts discussing the abuse both minor victims sustained at Etheridge and Cronkhite’s hands.

Francisco Garduno Bobadilla, 58, was sentenced to serve 63 months in federal prison. In handing down the sentence, the court noted that if someone agrees to involve themselves in a crime, even if only moments before it happens, they are still held liable. Bobadilla is a not a U.S. citizen; therefore, he is expected to face removal proceedings following imprisonment. Bobadilla pleaded guilty April 29.

The awards recognize law enforcement partners for their work disrupting the flow of illicit narcotics and strengthening the nation’s response to the overdose epidemic through multi-jurisdictional collaboration.

Alejandro Amaro, HSI acting special agent in charge, presented the poster-sized checks to Maverick and Dimmit County Sheriffs’ Departments.

Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, and Christian Martinez, 28, both from Palestine, Texas, were charged in a federal indictment with one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death; one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in death; one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy; and one count of transportation of illegal aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.

On July 13, officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed an unlawfully present foreign fugitive to his home country of Guatemala. Carlos Horacio Suarez Monroy, 39, was wanted by Guatemalan law enforcement authorities for aggravated sexual assault. Upon arrival in Guatemala, Suarez was turned over to Guatemalan National Police.

Counterfeiters routinely target major sporting venues and other entertainment events such as the Premier League soccer match to illegally sell counterfeit apparel, merchandise, and tickets.

The operation, dubbed “Operation Games STOP” (Strategic Trafficking Operation), targeted human exploitation-related offenses, drug trafficking, and other public safety threats in the lead up to The World Games hosted in the Birmingham metro area.

An investigation led by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. field office resulted in a lengthy prison sentence for an Ohio woman for production and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Ashley Kolhoff, 22, of Port Clinton, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, July 12.

Martin Daniel Castillo-Rascon, 52, was removed from the United States to Mexico at the international boundary on top of the Stanton Street Bridge, where Mexican authorities took him into custody.

Those arrested had criminal histories or convictions for sexual abuse. Several individuals are registered sexual offenders. Everyone taken into custody is currently being detained pending the completion of removal proceedings, criminal prosecution, or removal from the United States.

ICE Directive 11064.3, Parental Interest of Noncitizens Parents and Legal Guardians of Minor Children or Incapacitated Adults, ensures that when a parent or legal guardian is arrested or detained for a civil immigration proceeding that the noncitizen can maintain visitation with their child or incapacitated adult for whom they serve as guardian, coordinate their care, and participate in any related court or child welfare proceedings. 

Seven more defendants have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in a major drug-trafficking conspiracy and to illegally possessing firearms following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), joint law enforcement probe.

Jose Salomon Madrid-Paz, a 59-year-old unlawfully present Honduran national, was sentenced in the Southern District of Texas to 26 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $30,400 in restitution for interference of commerce by robbery and using a firearm during a crime of violence. He pleaded guilty to the charges Jan. 10.

Guatemalan national Rogelio Franco Flores, 32, was flown from Omaha, Nebraska, to La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala, on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to Guatemalan officials.

According to court documents, on June 14, Crawford approached the BP checkpoint north of Laredo. A K-9 allegedly alerted to Crawford’s trailer. Upon further inspection, authorities discovered 80 noncitizens in the non-refrigerated trailer that Crawford was hauling.