News Releases and Statements

Joshua Tyler Fulp, 20, of Grand Forks was sentenced to serve 12 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death.

According to the indictment, the defendants also routinely ignored cease and desist orders directed at them, including a December 17, 2013 order from the State of Connecticut Department of Banking to cease and desist from charging advance fees to Connecticut residents for mortgage modification services.

The 10 men were arrested in the Jan. 20-21 operation on state charges of attempted trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, attempted solicitation of a child for prostitution, and attempted sexual assault of a child.

U.S. Attorney Kevin W. Techau held a press conference Monday at the Marion, Iowa, Police Department, in cooperation with HSI, the Iowa Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Enforcement and local non-profit Cedar Rapids Gives, to make the announcement.

Anthony Lamarr Sims, 21, aka “Mar Mar,” pled guilty before U. S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to one count of sex trafficking of children.

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.

Saul Enrique Banegas-Guzman, 46, was initially taken from the LaSalle Detention Facility to LaSalle General Hospital in Jena, Louisiana, via ambulance Jan. 5.

Austin A. Burns, 21, of Huron, South Dakota, was sentenced Jan. 25 by U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce to 22 ½ years (270 months) in federal prison. Burns pleaded guilty Sept. 21, 2015, to one count of sexually exploiting a minor.

Yarel Franco-Gonzalez, 22, was arrested in Guaynabo when he was being interviewed by HSI special agents regarding the allegation.

Thanh Duc Tran, of Houston, Texas, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to distribute alpha-pvp to customers in at least 32 states, including Pennsylvania, over various web sites during 2011 through March 2014.

Calvin Nesmith, 28, of Rockport, Texas, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack to 360 months in federal prison.

Josue Wilfredo Diaz-Arriaga, who is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for extortion of individuals for protection money, was ordered removed by an immigration judge in November 2015. He was turned over without incident to Salvadoran authorities Jan. 22 in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Victor Hugo Gonzalez, 36, of Laredo, was sentenced Jan. 22 by visiting U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack to 188 months in federal prison, which is to be immediately followed by five years’ supervised release. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 25, 2015.

Jeffery Scott Evans, 51, of Blaine, Tennessee, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison for traveling to Bloomington to have illicit sexual conduct with an underage girl. Evans has previously pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 11, 2015.

Alexander Jimenez III, 28, of Amarillo, Texas, was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison following his guilty plea in August 2015 to receiving child pornography.

Brian Kelley, 41, of Quinlan, Texas, pleaded guilty in January 2015 to a superseding information charging one count of possessing child pornography. Judge Fitzwater also sentenced Kelley to serve a lifetime of supervised release, and remanded him into federal custody.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Xzavion Dayshaun Ragsdale, aka “Yung Billy,” 19, from Amarillo, admitted that from about March 30 to April 3, 2015, he attempted to recruit a 15-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts.

Fidel Chan-Amador, aka El Chichi, 48, was turned over to Mexican authorities Jan. 22 at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo.

Dalia Ivette Singh, aka Dalia Pena, 62, now residing in Clearwater, Florida, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud in October. At the sentencing hearing, Singh was order to pay $222,000 in restitution to her victims.

"Going back into a burning building to save people is one of the most selfless things I can think of someone doing. SA Lundt, AFOD Sullivan and TEO Adamson are heroes and I’m incredibly proud of their efforts, and those of the local emergency response teams that assisted during this crisis.”

Noel Pena, 29, of Rio Grande City, who had been assigned to the Starr County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force, and Hector Salinas-Hinojosa, 21, of Roma, Texas, were sentenced Jan. 21, by U.S. Chief Judge Ricardo Hinojosa. Judge Hinojosa ordered Pena to serve 84 months in federal prison, while Salinas will serve a 60-month term.

The seized items were packaged to appear genuine and were sold at the same price point as legitimate goods. According to experts, such high quality counterfeit items suggest they were likely made using commercial grade equipment. Experts from the RIAA accompanied HSI special agents as on-scene subject matter experts.

Maria E. Gonzales Munoz, aka "Merci," 45, co-owned numerous brothels, including Cocodrillos, that posed as bars in and around the Houston area which facilitated commercial sex.

Robert J. Gongloff, 26, of Terra Alta, West Virginia, pleaded guilty in August 2015 to one count of production of child pornography. By pleading guilty, Gongloff admitted that he had produced numerous images and videos depicting nude minors and minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.