News Releases and Statements

Hong Wei Xian, a/k/a "Harry Zan," 32, and Li Li, a/k/a "Lea Li," 33, both from the PRC, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act and to smuggle goods unlawfully from the United States. They face a maximum penalty of five years in prison when they are sentenced on Aug. 26, 2011.

In addition to the prison term, Stewart John Burch, 58, will be placed on 10 years of supervised release following his incarceration. Burch pleaded guilty April 4 to one count of receiving child pornography.

In addition to the jail time, Matthew Patrick Schorr, 48, will be subject to 14 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

An Iranian national, who maintained a residence and business in California, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois to two felony charges stemming from his efforts to illegally export missile components and radio test sets from the United States to Iran via the United Arab Emirates.

A resident of Vancouver, British Columbia, convicted on weapons charges and for lying to federal border officers was sentenced to six years and 10 months in federal prison, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Harold Martinez, 32, of Bronx, N.Y., was found guilty on multiple felony counts including attempting and committing robbery that interfered with interstate commerce; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; obstruction of justice; and aiding and abetting.

A fugitive alien wanted on aggravated murder charges in Mexico was deported Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Levy Garcia Crespo, 34, of West Palm Beach, was charged in federal court on Friday with making false statements in connection with purported immigration services as part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by local U.S. ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents.

Peter Kingman Lindsley, 49, was charged in a three-count sealed indictment returned by a Houston grand jury on May 18. The indictment was unsealed May 25 after Lindsley was arrested by ICE HSI special agents. Lindsley had his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate George Hanks who ordered him to be held without bond.

Local agents with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are investigating an incomplete cross-border tunnel reported to the Nogales Police Department Wednesday. Investigators speculate the tunnel, when completed, would have connected with the drainage system which runs below the city and extends into Nogales, Sonora.

Joseph Schesso, 33, was living in Vancouver, Wash., when the alleged crimes occurred. He is scheduled to be arraigned June 3 at the federal courthouse in Tacoma, Wash.

A man wanted for a 2004 double murder in Florida was arrested on Wednesday, following coordination among the following organizations: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Dallas, Broward County (Florida) Sheriff's Office, U.S. Marshalls Service (USMS), and the America's Most Wanted TV show.

William George Gammon, 50, a Houston attorney, pleaded guilty May 23 before U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes. He entered his guilty plea admitting that on Nov. 20, 2009 he possessed child pornography he obtained via the Internet from a child pornography website.

The last member of a local drug organization was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Tuesday for his role in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy that transported more than 4,000 kilograms of marijuana over 3 years. The investigation was led by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Juan Sauceda, 29, a U.S. citizen living in Mexico who conspired with others to smuggle semi-automatic firearms and ammunition into Mexico, was sentenced to three years and four months in federal prison May 13. The investigation was led by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Earlier this month, a 50-person team of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel and local law enforcement officials embarked on a gang enforcement operation in the wee hours of the morning.

Christian R. Webb, 41, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on Friday following a February guilty plea to receiving materials showing minors being sexually exploited. From December 2009 until May 2010, Webb used the Internet to receive streaming web camera videos, which were being broadcast live and depicted minors being sexually exploited.

Paul Krosnick, 63, of Edgewater, N.J., was taken into custody at his residence by New Jersey ICE HSI agents. He was arraigned at the federal court in Newark, N.J. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo and released on a $100,000 bond.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) discovered 108 illegal aliens at a drop house in west Phoenix Wednesday.

During the course of the operation, ICE HSI agents investigated websites suspected of selling counterfeit goods and illegally distributing copyrighted material in the United States. Once the materials were confirmed as counterfeit or otherwise illegal, seizure orders for the domain names of the websites that sold or distributed the items were obtained from federal magistrate judges.

Thomas Lee Neal, 42, of Roseville, Calif. was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years and three months in prison on charges stemming from a child pornography investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). ICE HSI received substantial assistance on the case from the German Federal Police, Child Pornography Unit.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers on Tuesday deported an illegal alien wanted for homicide in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Federal law enforcement authorities partially unsealed an indictment Tuesday naming 18 individuals, including a former police officer from Watertown, Mass., with drug, extortion and money laundering charges in a case investigated jointly with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

ICE on Tuesday began using a federal information sharing capability as part of the Secure Communities program in 10 Alabama counties to help federal immigration officials identify criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails by running their fingerprints against federal immigration databases when they are booked into the system.