News Releases and Statements

During a four-day targeted enforcement operation in and around Jackson that ended Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrested 58 individuals, including convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and known gang members and affiliates.

Stacey Wright-Farmer of Squire, W.Va., was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum statutory term of 20 years in prison for involving a minor under her care in child pornography.

A 61-year-old certified public accountant from Miami Lakes, Fla. was sentenced to federal prison following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Miami, U.S. Secret Service, and the City of Miami Police Department.

Matthew Aukamp, 44, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey on Feb. 22 to 300 months in federal prison. Aukamp, of Macon, Ill., was also ordered to a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term. Aukamp was previously employed as an officer with the Decatur, Ill., Police Department.

A former Tacoma, Wash., resident was convicted in federal court Friday for his role in smuggling a 2 million dollar load Ecstasy across the border from Canada into the United States in a case investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Timothy Dwayne Glenn, 44, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. Glenn, who has been in custody since December 30, 2010, pleaded guilty to the charges January 11.

ICE Director John Morton's remarks from the funeral of special agent Jaime J. Zapata

U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents seized more than 900 pounds of marijuana and arrested a suspected drug smuggler at a Phoenix auto shop Friday. The owner of the business, a 40-year-old Mexican citizen unlawfully present in the United States, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Darryl Owen Walizer, 43, of Las Vegas, was convicted Thursday of coercion and enticement of a minor and commission of a felony sex offense by an individual required to register as a sex offender. The charges are the result of an investigation by ICE HSI.

Albert Barnes was arrested yesterday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with one count of possession of child pornography.

"31-year old Bridgeport man, Wadner Dorce, also known as ""Wa Wa,"" pleaded guilty yesterday before U. S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to one count of illegally engaging in the business of dealing in firearms."

Syed Zaidi, 54, was sentenced today to 26 months in prison for his role in an immigration fraud conspiracy.

A Caldwell, Idaho, woman who operated an immigration consulting business was arrested Thursday for mail fraud and misuse of government seals following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Timothy J. McNamee, a 56-year-old Springdale, Ohio, man who filmed and took explicit photographs of a 10-year old girl, was sentenced in federal court following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Springdale Police.

"Bakir Rajkotwala, of Kenner, La., was sentenced to six months of incarceration followed by deportation to his native Pakistan for trafficking counterfeit merchandise, following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). On Oct. 27, 2010, ICE HSI special agents confiscated about 58 counterfeit ""NFL"" Reebok Saints Jerseys."

Ten individuals from Mexico and Guatemala pleaded guilty to immigration-related charges in federal court Wednesday, following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).All were found in the United States while employed by J and A Framers Carpentry, a North Carolina corporation...

Timothy Sorrell, 63, of Panama City, was indicted Tuesday for the receipt and possession of child pornography, following an investigation being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Bay County Sheriff's Office (BCSO).

A man wanted on murder charges in the southeastern European country of Montenegro was removed from the United States this week by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

A Chinese business agent for several honey import companies was arrested in Los Angeles Tuesday on federal charges filed in Chicago for allegedly conspiring to illegally import Chinese-origin honey that was falsely identified to avoid U.S. anti-dumping duties.

William M. Teich, 32, of Lafayette, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for distribution of child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Lafayette Police Department (LPD). He was identified during an investigation by the LPD using a file sharing software to possess child pornography.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Victor Avila, Jr., was discharged from the hospital Wednesday and is at home recovering from his wounds. He was shot twice in the leg in the line of duty Tuesday afternoon after he was attacked by unknown assailants while driving between Monterrey, Mexico, and Mexico City.

A federal grand jury has unsealed multi-count indictments against 17 defendants in five separate cases involving the illegal trafficking of firearms from the United States to Mexico following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the ATF.

Three indictments were unsealed in the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday, charging 13 South Florida individuals with extortion conspiracy, credit card fraud, money laundering, firearms smuggling, marriage fraud, and health care fraud, among other crimes.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers never know who or what they may encounter, so they have to be prepared for everything.