News Releases and Statements

Five members and principal leaders of an illegal drug and money transportation cell based in Brownsville, Texas, pleaded guilty on Monday to smuggling into the U.S. and transporting hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, along with millions of dollars in drug proceeds.

Edward Bernas, 63, of Mundelein, Ill., a former competitive ice skating coach, was taken into federal custody Monday to begin serving a 14-year prison sentence for possessing child pornography. Bernas pleaded guilty in October to storing child pornography on his PC in 2008.

Alexander Litt, 47, the owner of a company that provided illegal workers to hotels and restaurants in Pittsburgh and three other cities, was sentenced Monday to 56 months in federal prison following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Litt was one of six people indicted in a December 2008 investigation...

Two local men were sentenced on Monday to lengthy federal prison terms for holding smuggled aliens hostage for ransom payments, announced U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno, Southern District of Texas.

Van Bodden-Martinez, A Bahamian national residing in Palm Beach County, Fla., was arrested for attempting to import spiny lobster, queen conch and yellowtail snapper which had been harvested without a permit. The arrest resulted from a joint investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), North Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin...

Emmanuel Tavarez, 31, a former officer with the New York Police Department (NYPD) pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy charges of robbery and narcotics distribution and the use of a firearm in carrying out these crimes, following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In less than one week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (ICE) special agents, arrested three Puerto Rican men on child pornography charges. The arrests coincide with April's Crimes Against Children Awareness Month.

Carlos Cunningham Jr. was sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute about 10 tons of marijuana that had been smuggled through a sophisticated tunnel on the San Diego-Tijuana border that was discovered in November 2010 by agents from the San Diego Tunnel Task Force in one of the largest...

Law enforcement authorities arrested 20 gang members and their associates for robbery, aggravated assault, a felon possessing firearms, and drug and parole violations.

Agents with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in close partnership with local law enforcement, arrested 22 men during a five-day operation this week. This is the latest local effort in Operation Community Shield, an ongoing national ICE initiative to target transnational gang members.

Miguel Mendoza-Sarabia, 33, and Alonso Mendoza-Sarabia, 25, two Mexican brothers wanted in their native country for a murder three years ago, were turned over to Mexican law enforcement officials at the San Ysidro border crossing Friday by U.S. ICE officers, four days after their capture in Monterey County.

A Tennessee resident received $3,400 from local ICE HSI special agents and local law enforcement officers on Wednesday.

Two Mexican nationals and a Honduran native were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury here following a joint probe by U.S. ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the California Department of Motor Vehicles into a Tulare County-based document counterfeiting scheme.

One individual and his company in New York, and two others and their company in California, were indicted today in the District of Columbia on charges of illegally exporting millions of dollars worth of computer-related equipment from the United States to Iran via the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Frank Salvador Solorza of Redwood City, Calif. was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison following his conviction by a federal jury for conspiracy and attempting to extort money from six individuals while posing as a federal immigration officer. The case was investigated by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

"Three current or former jailers, and two men alleged to be members of the ""Raza Unida"" prison gang, were charged on Wednesday with conspiring to bribe public officials, announced U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno."

A man from Broomfield, Colo., was charged on Thursday by Information with one count of willfully exporting defense articles without a license.

Gary Mack Johnson, 54, who is on bond, faces a statutory sentence of not less than five years or more than 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is set for Aug. 8.

Derek Alan Lee, 44, of Orange Park, Fla., pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving images and videos depicting child pornography over the Internet.

A former Sullivan City police chief was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison without parole for drug-trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno, Southern District of Texas.

A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment on Thursday charging former Ennis, Texas, resident Buddy Anderson with various child pornography/obscenity offenses. Persons hired to clean an abandoned apartment in Ennis discovered child pornography photographs.

A three-month investigation led by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) into the smuggling of cigarettes from overseas through John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport has resulted in the arrest of a dozen individuals who have been charged with state tax violations and falsified business records.

Jorge Alberto Lopez-Cordova, 32, was charged April 20 with illegally re-entering the United States as a convicted felon after having been previously deported.

Until shortly before his arrest in late November 2009, David Ray Gray, 61, was the Music Minister at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church near his residence in Scurry, Texas. On April 20, U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade also ordered that Gray serve a 10-year term of supervised release following his incarceration. He must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on May 24.

The father and son owners of the Chuy's Mesquite Broiler regional Mexican restaurant chain, along with the company's accountant, will be arraigned in federal court in Tucson Thursday on tax and immigration violations contained in a 19-count indictment stemming from a lengthy probe by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the IRS.