News Releases and Statements

Shawn A. Bray, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was sworn in today by Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole to be the new director of Interpol Washington. Interpol Washington, the U.S. National Central Bureau, is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice and is co-managed by DHS.

He is expected to be deported after he serves his prison sentence.

Eight men were indicted on federal child pornography offenses following a joint investigative effort known as "Operation Blue Monday."

Keith Larson, 41, of Louisville, Colo., was arraigned Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard R. Lloyd on charges of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 12, and traveling with intent to engage in criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced Thursday that it seized 89 website domain names that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise to unsuspecting consumers as part of Project Cyber Monday.

An Arizona woman, Courtney Cal Gardenier, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad hosted a delegation of nine American subject matter experts in the fields of federal law enforcement, justice and cultural heritage protection including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, from Dec. 17 to 20 at a training conference on "Countering Antiquities Trafficking."

Roger Bates, 57, of London, Ark., pleaded guilty to federal charges of production of child pornography Aug. 13. In addition to the 60-year prison term issued Tuesday, he was ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution. Bates is not eligible for parole.

David Guzman-Urias aka El Directo, an El Salvadoran national wanted for aggravated homicide in his home country, was removed from the United States Tuesday and turned over to El Salvadoran law enforcement officials by officers from ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

As part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, officers of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore arrested 34 convicted criminal aliens during a two-day enforcement operation on the Maryland Eastern Shore.

Robert L. Hedrick, 61, of Brownsville, Texas, appeared before U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen who handed down the 360-month prison sentence. Following is the breakdown of his prison sentences, which are all running concurrently:

Ramin Bibian, a Los Angeles-area man who admitted operating two websites that sold counterfeit IDs, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to transferring false identification documents, following a probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the HSI-led multi-agency Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment Tuesday charging two Dallas men with various drug and firearms offenses related to their conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. One of these men is also charged with possessing and distributing heroin that resulted in the drug-overdose deaths this summer of two young women.

ICE's HSI urgently needs the public's help to identify a suspected child pornography producer. The agency is seeking the arrest of an unidentified woman for producing child pornography and the rescue of a 4 to 5-year-old victim of sexual exploitation.

Six people were sentenced Tuesday following their convictions in an illegal alien harboring/transportation conspiracy after an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Nine criminal aliens, two fugitives and six repeat immigration violators were arrested during a three-day operation in southeast Alabama that concluded Sunday, conducted by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Adulfo De Aquino-Cancino, an illegal alien from Mexico, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to engage in the sex trafficking of two minors. The guilty pleas resulted from an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Kentucky State Police.

Jose Espinoza was sentenced Tuesday to 78 months in federal prison for attempting to possess and distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

Daniel Aparicio-Lara, 29, a Mexican national formerly of Burlington, N.C., was sentenced today to 66 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder in the Middle District of North Carolina. In addition to his prison term, Aparicio-Lara was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $140,800 in proceeds. On Sept. 18, 2012, Aparicio-Lara pleaded guilty in front of Judge Schroeder to one count of conspiracy to commit identification fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

As part of U.S. ICE's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, 90 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators were arrested last week during Operation Bear III throughout central and south Texas.

Phillip Edward Baker, 50, was sentenced to 135 and 120 months for the receipt and possession convictions, respectively. In addition, following a one-day bench trial Sept. 20, U.S. District Judge Gregg Costa sentenced Baker to 120 months in prison for accessing a child pornography website.

Nghia Nguyen, a Vietnamese citizen residing in Santa Ana, Calif., was sentenced today by to six years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for mail fraud.

Garvin Cadogan, a Trinidad and Tobago man living in El Paso under an assumed identity, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography. A forensics analysis of Cadogan's seized computer revealed the presence of more than 200 child pornography videos.

The two defendants have been in custody since their arrest Dec. 4.

Gattis faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted on the charge of distribution resulting in death.