News Releases and Statements

Howard Industries, Inc., one of the largest employers in Mississippi, pled guilty in federal court Thursday to knowingly violating the federal criminal conspiracy law in its employment of illegal aliens at the company's electrical transformer plant in Laurel, Miss., following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrested 24 foreign nationals during a six-day enforcement action in South Florida targeting convicted criminal aliens identified in violation of U.S. immigration law.

Patrick Carney of Manchester, N.H., was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for his role in a child exploitation enterprise.

Raymond Watts, 55, of Kingston, Ga., a teacher at Mill Creek Middle School, appeared in federal court Thursday after being arrested for distribution and possession of child pornography by special agents with U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Timothy S. Kelly, 40, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to four counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) - along with federal, state and local law enforcement officials from across the country - joined forces this week in a series of coordinated strikes against Mexican drug cartels and their associates.

Following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI, Moussa Ali Hamdan, a former resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to Hizballah. The 38-year-old is a dual citizen of the United States and Lebanon.

The president of two Chicago-area staffing companies that supplied temporary workers to suburban warehouses has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for hiring illegal aliens to form his labor pool. The sentence resulted from a worksite enforcement investigation conducted by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A federal judge sentenced two alien smugglers to 60 months in federal prison Friday for their role in a fatal maritime smuggling incident after an overloaded wooden boat capsized, killing two of the more than 20 illegal aliens and smugglers onboard. The case was investigated by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.

Dewayne Joseph was sentenced to 352 months in prison following an investigation led by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). On Nov. 9, 2010, Joseph was convicted by a federal jury for possessing a firearm after being previously convicted of a felony, possessing with the intent to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine...

A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday charging Bakersfield, Calif., shop owner Eric Huggins with one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The activation earlier this week of Secure Communities in six northern California jurisdictions - Alpine, Del Norte, Lassen, Sierra, Siskiyou and Trinity counties - means the program's vital information-sharing capability is, for the first time, accessible to law enforcement agencies in all 58 of the state's counties.

A Chinese national in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since Feb. 14 passed away on Feb. 23 at the Lock Haven Hospital in Lock Haven, Pa., of an apparent suicide.

A federal grand jury in Richmond has indicted 22 members of a fraudulent document trafficking organization based in Mexico with cells in 19 cities and 11 states, including three cells in Virginia. Discovered through an ongoing investigation dubbed Operation Phalanx, the organization is accused of kidnapping, beating and murdering competitors...

"The announcement today by Mexican authorities of an arrest in the shooting of ICE Special Agents Jaime Zapata and Victor Avila is a welcome development. We are encouraged by this action and appreciate the efforts by Mexico to bring Special Agent Zapata's killers to justice."

"Investigation results in repatriation of the ""Nereid Sweetmeat Stand"" to Dresden State Art Collections"

During a four-day targeted enforcement operation in and around Jackson that ended Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrested 58 individuals, including convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and known gang members and affiliates.

Stacey Wright-Farmer of Squire, W.Va., was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum statutory term of 20 years in prison for involving a minor under her care in child pornography.

A 61-year-old certified public accountant from Miami Lakes, Fla. was sentenced to federal prison following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Miami, U.S. Secret Service, and the City of Miami Police Department.

Matthew Aukamp, 44, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey on Feb. 22 to 300 months in federal prison. Aukamp, of Macon, Ill., was also ordered to a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term. Aukamp was previously employed as an officer with the Decatur, Ill., Police Department.

A former Tacoma, Wash., resident was convicted in federal court Friday for his role in smuggling a 2 million dollar load Ecstasy across the border from Canada into the United States in a case investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Timothy Dwayne Glenn, 44, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. Glenn, who has been in custody since December 30, 2010, pleaded guilty to the charges January 11.

ICE Director John Morton's remarks from the funeral of special agent Jaime J. Zapata

U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents seized more than 900 pounds of marijuana and arrested a suspected drug smuggler at a Phoenix auto shop Friday. The owner of the business, a 40-year-old Mexican citizen unlawfully present in the United States, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.