News Releases and Statements

Jose Angel Lopez-Garcia, a Mexican national who was encountered by U.S. ICE's Secure Communities program, was sentenced Thursday to time served for illegally reentering the United States after deportation. He pleaded guilty to the charge Aug. 20.

Three men, two from Atlanta and one from New York, appeared in federal court Thursday on charges that they conspired to bribe a federal immigration official in return for assistance with their immigration status, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

Robert Chace, 25, of East Providence, R.I., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. Judge McConnell also ordered the defendant to participate in sex offender treatment, mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment.

Johnny Lee Cole, 43, is a convicted sex offender who was previously found guilty of enticing a child for indecent purposes.

A previously deported criminal alien, Ricardo Lopez-Munguia, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to illegally voting in the 2008 presidential election using the name of a U.S. citizen whose identity he assumed more than two decades ago.

John David Baker, 29, of Celebration, Fla., is charged with production, transportation and possession of child pornography.

Akeem R. Gumbs was sentenced in federal court Thursday in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, to 25 years in prison for production and distribution of child pornography, and for the sexual exploitation of a minor. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Following a joint operation between ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), three individuals were arrested Thursday at the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (LMMIA) in San Juan for attempting to import, with the intent to distribute, more than six kilograms of heroin.

ICE HSI, working jointly with other members of the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force (CCSF), seized 1,000 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $72 million Wednesday south of Isla Saona, Dominican Republic.

Julio Cesar Revolorio Ramos of Adelphi, Md., was arrested late yesterday by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents on federal charges of transporting a teen girl as part of his prostitution business.

With flood waters reaching as high as 48 inches in some areas of the city, the team assisted with its MRAP.

A North Carolina man and a former staff sergeant with U.S. Special Forces, National Guard Unit, pleaded guilty Thursday to violating the Arms Export Control Act.

John Wyss, aka "Bones," 55, of Monroe, Wis., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Maurice Hicks in the Western District of Louisiana. On May 17, Wyss was found guilty on three counts after trial, including: one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, one count of conspiracy to advertise child pornography, and one count of conspiracy to distribute child pornography.

Joe N. Flowers Jr., 42, of Henrietta, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer. The sentence will be served consecutive to a state sentence the defendant is currently serving.

A Mexican national pleaded guilty today to one count of illegally reentering the United States after deportation. He faces up to two years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

Six men pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday as a result of the efforts of a multi-agency investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Roland J. Flath, 72, of Fond du Lac, Wis., was sentenced Thursday to five years in federal prison for traveling to a foreign country and having illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Nestor Vladimir Sandoval Roca, aka William Zapatero, 36, a citizen of El Salvador residing in College Park, Md., was sentenced Thursday to 210 months in prison following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Federal criminal charges have been filed against a Van Nuys manufacturing company and one of its owners for hiring unauthorized alien workers and repeatedly taking steps to cover up the illegal hiring in an effort to retain the workers.

Multiple indictments charging 21 individuals with conspiracy and/or immigration benefit fraud (marriage fraud) were unsealed Wednesday.

Adam Joshua Cortez, 31, is most recently a resident of Justin, Texas. He was sentenced following his conviction at trial in May. In July 2011, Cortez used the Internet and a cell phone to try to entice an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old girl to have sex with him.

Thomas E. Stickle, 41, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton. According to court documents and statements made in court, from December 2009 to May 2010, Stickle traded images of child pornography with other individuals by email.

The nationwide search by ICE's HSI for a "Jane Doe" suspected child pornographer ended Tuesday with the arrest of two Salem, Ore., residents on federal child exploitation charges.

A 26-year-old Puerto Rican man, Angel M. Medina-Ayala, was arrested in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, Friday for sexually enticing a 15-year-old female minor. The charges resulted from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF).

Jesse Jeff Stewart, 33, of Albert Lea, Minn., was sentenced to 85 months in prison on one count of receiving child pornography. He was indicted Jan. 10 and pleaded guilty April 18.