News Releases and Statements

George Harrison, 56, of Estill County, Kentucky, was found guilty of three counts of distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, one count of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, all charges contained in an August 2019 indictment.

Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine, was named in a federal grand jury indictment returned Wednesday charging him with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and six counts of money laundering.

Thomas Bowden, 41, was sentenced March 8, to 19 years in prison followed by lifetime probation; upon his release he will also be required to register as a sex offender. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of child exploitation on March 8.

The award, considered one of the most prestigious within the FBI, was given to members of the CASTTF for their work in combatting violent crime in Indian Country.

Paul Torres Jimenez De La Cuesta, 29, of Imperial Beach, California, pleaded guilty April 5 to distribution of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Xu Zhang, 31, a New York resident, was indicted in September 2019, after conspiring with his girlfriend and co-conspirator, Gao Xing, also a Chinese national, to destroy and conceal records pertinent to a federal grand jury investigation.

After a five-day jury trial in federal court, Jorge Santos Caballero Melgar, 36, formerly of Nashville, Tennessee, was convicted of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery; conspiracy to use and carry firearms during and in relation to crimes of violence; interference with commerce by robbery in a March 2017 robbery in Bowling Green, Kentucky; murder through the use of a firearm during and in relation to the commission of a crime of violence; and illegal reentry into the United States after a previous deportation.

Scott James Wells, 55, withdrew his plea of not guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool in order to enter a nolo contendere, or “no contest,” plea, neither admitting nor disputing the federal charges against him, but acknowledging the government had sufficient evidence to convict him of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt.

Daniel Ague Masters, 51, kept a substantial arsenal at both an underground bunker and in a garage on a property in Rainer, Thurston County.

Law enforcement served a search warrant at Scott’s residence in August 2019, seizing two computers and his mobile devices. An examination of a device revealed that he had taken sexually explicit photos of a minor child in his residence in July 2019.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the seizure, the HSI Intellectual Property Rights Center (“IPRC”) and the HSI Cyber Crimes Center (“C3”) discovered an apparent fraudulent website, named “freevaccinecovax.org.” A domain analysis conducted by HSI indicated the domain name was created on April 27, 2021, using an IP address located in Strasbourg. The registrant country was listed as Russia.

Jeremy Lee Barrera, 36, former firefighter with the Odessa Fire Department (OFD), admitted in federal court he used his cell phone on the OFD network to access an online chat room where several videos, which depicted child pornography, were posted. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

In October 2017, Griselda Genchi-Garcia, 27, a citizen of Mexico, applied for asylum to the United States from Mexico via the San Ysidro Port of Entry, California. She was given a notice to appear and informed she was a noncitizen and not a citizen or national of the United States.

Jose Ramon Aguilar-Moreno, 52, of Fontana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles and the U.S. Marshal’s Service.

Shanelle Bailey, 23, of Jamaica, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Marquez after pleading guilty Oct. 10, 2020, to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering.

Eber Uriel Perez-Ramirez, 29, of Aurora, Colorado was sentenced to 10.5 years in federal prison following his prior guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

On April 27, Roel Alaniz, 40, from Weslaco, Texas, entered his guilty pleas in U.S. district court.

Xianbing Gan, 51, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for laundering illegal narcotics proceeds on behalf of drug traffickers in Mexico.

Felix-Eduardo Gomez-Hernandez, 32, a Mexican citizen, was removed at the Stanton Street Bridge in downtown El Paso. Gomez-Hernandez was considered a threat to public safety and an ICE enforcement priority due to an aggravated felony conviction for manufacturing and delivering methamphetamine.

Alvaro Castillo, 64, a retired telecommunications network engineer of Englewood, Colorado, was convicted by a federal jury Nov. 18, 2020, of three counts of production of child pornography; one count of attempted production of child pornography; one count of transportation of child pornography; and one count of possession of child pornography.

The suspect, Sergio Donizetti Luciano, 59, who is currently in federal custody, is a fugitive from justice in Brazil with a prior conviction for rape of a minor.

This joint initiative provides resources – free of charge – to aid small to mid-size businesses in protecting themselves against IP theft, fraud and cyber security awareness.

Jorge Rosales, 25, of Beaverton, Oregon, has been charged by criminal complaint with sexually exploiting children, distributing and possessing child pornography, cyberstalking, and enticing a minor online.

Timothy Lynn Vandeventer, 55, was sentenced in the Northern District of Texas for receipt of Child Pornography on Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade. He pled guilty in Nov. 2020.

Ahmad Kanan, 49, Madison, Wisconsin was sentenced 42 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $147,060. Kanan committed the CARES Act Fraud while under indictment and awaiting trial in the access device fraud case. He pleaded guilty in both cases on October 2, 2020.