News Releases and Statements

Arturo Rojas Coyotl, 28, of Tenancingo, Mexico, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and a $600 special assessment. Odilon Martinez Rojas, 43, of Tenancingo, Mexico, has been sentenced to 21 years, ten months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release and a $600 special assessment. Each defendant was ordered to pay restitution in amount of $190,000, which will be divided between three victims.

Jason Paul Roberts, 38, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in October 2013 to one count of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. Roberts will be required to register as a sex offender. He has been in custody since his arrest in September 2012 on a related federal indictment.

Qayed Murtaza Shareef, 39, Aliso Viejo, was formally charged Friday with 30 felony counts of lewd acts with a child under 14; one felony count of using a minor for sex acts; one felony count of distributing pornography to a minor; one felony count of possession or control of child pornography, with a sentencing enhancement for substantial sexual conduct with a child under 14 years old and committing lewd acts upon multiple victims.

Human trafficking victims are not specific to age, race, nationality or gender, although most sex-trafficking victims are women. By definition, human trafficking victims become modern-day slaves through force, fraud or coercion. Those targeted by traffickers are often perceived as vulnerable. Undocumented migrants, runaways and at-risk youth, and oppressed or marginalized groups are among the high-risk population of human trafficking victims.

Patrik Arsenault, 28 of Norridgewock, was also ordered to serve a lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. following his prison sentence. Arsenault pleaded guilty July 8, 2014.

Over 5,000 looted artifacts valued at more than $50 million Euros were illicitly traded by Gianfranco Becchina, an Italian national and one of Italy’s most prolific traffickers of illicit cultural property. HSI became involved in one of the Becchina investigations after receiving a lead from Carabinieri TPC regarding looted objects being offered for sale by a New York auction house.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Reymundo Alejandro Sanchez, 21, of Abilene, Texas, used his cell phone to communicate with several people using a mobile application called Kik, as well as through Facebook and other means.

The HSI San Juan Citizens Academy was developed by HSI San Juan special agents to provide members of the general public with an inside look at HSI and how the agency enforces immigration and customs laws.

Approximately 55 representatives from the State of Mexico and the Mexican Federal Police participated in the seminar, the first ever state-level training of its kind. The Instituto Mexiquense de Seguridad y Justicia and the Comisión de Seguridad Estatal del Gobierno del Estado de México assisted with hosting the seminar.

Erik Leroy Clark, 35, of Joplin, Missouri, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison without parole.

With that thought in mind, in April 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) entered into a partnership with the U.S. Special Operations Command and the National Association to Protect Children (PROTECT) to launch the Human Exploitation Rescue Operative (HERO) Child Rescue Corps program.

Omali McKay, 29, a citizen of Trinidad lawfully residing in the United States who’s now serving time in state prison for sexually assaulting a child, pleaded guilty to conspiring with others from 2006 to Aug. 25, 2012, to distribute five to 15 kilograms of cocaine and 280 to 840 grams of crack cocaine.

Raul Ramirez-Martinez, 36, a previously deported illegal alien from Queretaro, Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen to 120 months on each of the charges, to be served concurrently. As an illegal alien, he is expected to face deportation proceedings after he’s released from prison. Ramirez-Martinez pleaded guilty to the charges in May 2014.

This investigation, referred to as Operation Kingdom Conqueror, is an ongoing cooperative effort among the following agencies: Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); FBI; Montana Department of Criminal Investigations; Helena and Polson (Montana) police departments; Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; and the States of Jersey Police Department, Isle of Jersey.

Brandon Jones, 33, was charged Thursday after three of his other co-conspirators were charged and pleaded guilty in federal court.

Simpson Unlimited was founded in 1992 and currently employs approximately 125 individuals. The company handles construction projects ranging from simple repairs to multimillion dollar contracts. Some of the company’s largest projects include: the Rayburn House and Senate Building, the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner and the Freer Gallery of Art.

Ten government witnesses provided testimony regarding the trafficking in heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine by Rodolfo Casares, 38, of Brownsville, Texas. This criminal organization was headquartered in Mathis, Texas, and led by Ricardo Guerrero.

ERO officers transferred Sungwoo Kim, 49, and his brother Sungjoon Kim, 43, to the custody of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) at Incheon International Airport Wednesday to face fraud charges. They were escorted by ERO officers on a commercial flight that departed Tuesday from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Daniel Brown, 26, of Taylor, South Carolina, was convicted Jan. 22 for his role in this child pornography scheme. Five defendants previously pleaded guilty for their role in the conspiracy in October, 2014. Six additional defendants filed their notice to plead guilty in January 2015.

Harry K. Roche, 44, of Millsboro, Delaware, was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release following his prison sentence and will be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any place he lives, works or attends school.

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal sentenced William Craig Noonan, 39, of Houston, to 360 months in prison for each of the two counts of conspiracy to produce, and one count of distributing child pornography, as well as 120 months for possessing child pornography.

Aleksandar Randjelovich, 39, of Fair Oaks, was sentenced by United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh F. Sigal prosecuted the case.

ERO officers and HSI special agents worked closely with the HSI Brasilia Attaché Office and Interpol to track down Caylon Botelho Carreiro, 27, and Adilson Pires Ribeiro, 48. Both were arrested last week in Massachusetts.

Kalif Hickey, 33, of Springfield, Missouri, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison without parole.

McCain Inc., which began operations in 1987, is the 16th San Diego-area business to become an IMAGE member. IMAGE is a voluntary partnership that helps employers maintain a lawful workforce and reduce unauthorized employment and the use of fraudulent identity documents.