News Releases and Statements

Steven Edward Brooks, 50, of Williston, North Dakota, was sentenced by US District Judge Daniel L. Hovland to serve 14 years in federal prison following his conviction on one count of receiving child pornography. Brooks had previously pleaded guilty to the charge.

Muhammed Fatty, 41 of Little Canada, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful procurement of naturalization and making false claims in relation to tax refunds. Fatty was previously charged with the crimes in August 2015.

Sean P. Hall, 46, of Topeka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. In his plea, he admitted to conspiring with co-defendants to operate a Topeka-based prostitution business. At times, as many as 20 women were working as prostitutes for the organization.

According to documents filed in the case, between about Nov. 30 and Dec. 8, 2014, Richard Grayson, 46, of Dallas, used the internet and file-sharing software to share and transmit image and video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

ERO officers based in Kentucky arrested 49 individuals. Thirty-three of the 49 have been convicted of crimes in the United States including: grand theft auto, battery, sexual abuse, aggravated assault, DUI, hit and run. The remaining 16 are agency enforcement priorities as recent border crossers.

ERO officers arrested 107 individuals in the greater Chicago area. Ninety-six of the 107 have been convicted of crimes in the United States, including: robbery, possessing a stolen vehicle, aggravated DUI, rioting, aggravated sexual abuse, aggravated assault on an officer, and weapons offenses. The remaining 11 are agency priorities as recent border crossers. Twenty-one had previously been deported and illegally re-entered the United States.

In the St. Louis area, ERO officers arrested 34 individuals. Twenty-eight of the 34 have been convicted of crimes in the United States including: drugs, aggravated DUI, domestic battery, larceny and hit and run. The remaining six are agency enforcement priorities as recent border crossers. Eight of the 34 were previously deported from the United States and illegally re-entered.

ERO officers based in Wichita arrested 31 individuals. Twenty-five of the 31 have been convicted of crimes in the United States including: battery, unlawful discharge of a firearm, sexual assault, aggravated assault, DUI, and robbery. The remaining six are agency enforcement priorities as recent border crossers. Ten of the 30 were previously deported from the United States and illegally re-entered.

D’mar Dwain Jennings Conway Conway, 28, was indicted Thursday based on a criminal complaint originally filed last month. According to court documents, during a search of Conway’s Fruitvale neighborhood residence HSI special agents seized a video camera and a digital storage card for that device. 

Today’s charges were filed against Colby Lewis, 24; Ronald Dinges, 56; Alexandra Kastner, 27; Alante Williams; 24, Deandre Coplin, 27; Jocelyn Appleby, 26; Brett Demeza, 35 and Brett Carpenter, 35. All are Frederick County residents.

Jae Seon Yoon, 56, was convicted for his role in a scheme to import and distribute drug paraphernalia and other goods with counterfeit markings that made them appear to be from established suppliers. Yoon was the president or vice-president of multiple companies that did business in Washington over the years, including J&J, Inc., Smomax, Inc., and Three People Corp., which were doing business as Top Wholesale, Inc., Smomax Inc. and Cigar USA, respectively.

Albert Lee Mitchell, 69, was originally indicted in 2012 following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). According to the indictment, between April 16, 2012, and Nov. 5, 2012, Mitchell received images of child pornography via the internet.

Paul Charles Wilkins, 70, of Littleport in East Cambridgeshire, England, a dual citizen of the United States and United Kingdom, was named in a four-count superseding indictment that now includes charges of transporting and possessing child pornography.

Kaushal Kainth, 27, formerly of Renton, was convicted in absentia of conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy after he fled in the middle of the third day of his trial and before closing arguments began.

Each of the following nine defendants is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams and more of methamphetamine, 500 grams and more of cocaine and marijuana, as well as one count of using a communication facility to facilitate the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and aiding and abetting: Cruz Perez, aka “Travieso,” 40, Christopher Lee Gonzalez, aka “Gonzo,” 43, Victor Manuel Castillo, aka “Victor Manuel Garza,” 43, Christopher David Gonzales, aka “Chris,” 41, Evan Cruz Parson, aka “Evan,” 21, Alexander Alfonzo Mendoza, aka “Alex,” 20, Jose Gutierrez, III, aka “Baby Joey,” 21, Jasmine Pillar Hernandez, aka “Crazy,” 32, and Crystal Dimas, aka “Babe,” 28.

Roberto Enrique Rincon Fernandez (Rincon), 55, of The Woodlands, Texas, pleaded guilty June 16 to information charging him with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), one count of violating the FCPA, and one count of making false statements on his 2010 federal income tax return. 

As detailed in the indictment and other court filings by the government, between approximately 2011 and 2013, the defendants Kelvin Cisnero Santos, 48, of the Bronx, Saul Ovalles Corniel, 40, of Newark, New Jersey, Carlos Bello Tirado, 40, of Leesburg, Florida, Ernest Pena, 40 of the Bronx, and Jermaine Sandifer, 40 of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, were members of a large-scale drug trafficking organization based in the Bronx.

Joseph Aaron McClendon, 39, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Schuller Hitchcock prosecuted the case.

The five day training, conducted during the week of June 6-11, was coordinated with the CNP’s Inspector General’s (IG) office. OPR and CNP personnel simultaneously conducted an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the CNP IG program in order to identify future areas of collaboration and training. 

Timothy Raymond Schmidt, of Cincinnati, is charged with knowingly using, persuading, inducing, enticing or coercing two minor children in Idaho to engage in sexually explicit activity in order to produce visual images and live visual depictions of that conduct.

Randy Ray Wesson, 29, from Hurst, Texas, pleaded guilty in February 2015 to one count of possessing and one count of receiving child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced all four human smugglers June 14. Judge Crane took into consideration the leadership roles in the human smuggling organization of Jorge Luis Ortiz-Aguilera, 36, of Mexico, and Jose Mario Ledezma-Vega, 47, of Edinburg, Texas. Judge Crane sentenced both Ortiz-Aguilera and Ledezma-Vega to 51-months in federal prison each.

Federal, state and local law enforcement arrested the following 17 defendants:  Justo Capeles; Carlos David; Jose E. Deanda; Luis Diaz; Isaac Elena-Leonardo; Ramon Elizondo; Brenda Fontanez-Masso; Jorge Fontanez-Masso; Emerito Quiles; Edgardo Q. Rivera; Edgardo S. Rivera; Jason Rivera; Omayra Rivera; Jose Santos-Marti; Jaime M. Vega; Carlos Velasquez; Edgar Velez, who remains at large.