News Releases and Statements

Andrew David Ferrill, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes June 28, to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Ferrill to spend 20 years on supervised release following incarceration.

Edwin Lopez-Chavez, 28, was sentenced Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas. On March 25 he was convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine after a jury deliberated for less than five hours following a two-day trial.

Bryan Wesley Fulfer, a 55-year-old resident of Aransas Pass, was sentenced Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas. He was further ordered to serve three years on supervised release following completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.

Anthony Fox, 25, received a 79-158-year sentence on June 24 after pleading guilty to 22 sexual abuse charges involving victims younger than 10 years old.

On June 28, a federal grand jury returned a two-count on Cristian Dolores Munoz-De La Rosa, 24, after HSI discovered child pornography on his phone.

Dedrick Lindell Coleman, 49, from Desoto, was sentenced June 28 by a federal judge to serve 24 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

Chad Everett Williams Jr., a 32-year-old Corpus Christi resident, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to possessing a loaded Diamondback Firearms pistol and 18 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Moses Slanger Wright, 69, of Philadelphia, with fraudulently attempting to obtain citizenship, fraud in immigration documents, false statements in relation to naturalization, and perjury following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia.

According to court documents, Ryan Meyung, 30, engaged six minor victims in sexually explicit conduct to produce images of child sexual abuse, and transported and possessed visual images of child sexual abuse. The alleged crimes occurred between 2019 and 2021; Meyung was arrested on state charges in December 2021 and has remained in custody.

Among those arrested, 110 have convictions for crimes including, but not limited to, aggravated assault with a gun, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, hit and run, drug trafficking, and child molestation.

According to his plea agreement, Cole Thomas Salazar, 32, used an online classified advertisement service to offer controlled substances for sale. After communicating online with the victim – identified in court documents by the initials S.E.F. – Salazar sold fentanyl to S.E.F. on Nov. 2, 2020.

These efforts yielded seizures of more than 478,000 counterfeit pharmaceutical pills laced with fentanyl, as well as about 51 kilograms of methamphetamine, 10 kilograms of cocaine, 4 kilograms of powder fentanyl, and 4 kilograms of heroin. Agents also seized about $230,000 in assets.

Project iGuardian focuses on keeping children and teens safer from online predators through education and awareness. The project is an outreach effort to share information about the dangers of online environments, how to stay safer online, and how to report abuse and suspicious activity. Project iGuardian helps children, teens and parents learn more about staying safe from online sexual predators.

According to court documents, in June 2021, special agents executed a search warrant on the residence of Kevin Holguin-Cano, 29, and found materials depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Honduran national Jairo Samir Hernandez-Bautista, 30, was flown from San Antonio International Airport on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to the Honduran National Police, June 17.

On June 12, a passing motorist reported discovering two bodies on the eastbound on-ramp of Interstate 10, several miles east of Van Horn, Texas. Fingerprint checks identified the two individuals as Rosenda Gomez-Lopez, a Guatemalan national, and Edgar Vividor-Rodriguez, a Mexican national.

Large sporting events, such as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, are prime targets for bad actors who are extremely savvy and often set up fake websites or e-commerce marketplaces with the sole intent of scamming sports fans.

The DHS Secretary’s Award is an annual program that recognizes the extraordinary individual and collective achievements of the workforce. There are eight award categories that recognize achievements spanning the previous year. This year, DHS will hold several ceremonies across the country honoring nearly 900 employees.

Evan Marshall, 24, of Rogersville, pleaded guilty June 16 before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to one count of transporting stolen property across state lines.

Juan Alvarado-Vargas, 22, was sentenced June 16 in federal court to 72 months to be followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the prison term, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo noted that Mexican Fentanyl is extremely dangerous and responsible for deaths all over the United States. Alvarado-Vargas pleaded guilty April 5.

Marcus E. Gardner, 48, was also ordered to pay $78,000 in restitution to victims who have been identified by law enforcement in the approximately 11,000 images and 500 videos of child sexual abuse investigators found on Gardner's computer and external hard drives.

On the day of the takedown, officers executed 16 search warrants and seized 84.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, 4.5 kilograms of heroin, 10.4 kilograms of fentanyl, 7.6 kilograms of cocaine, 10.5 kilograms of marijuana, 687 Xanax pills, 3.1 kilograms of unknown pills, a quantity of bulk cash, five firearms, a 3D printer with manufactured ghost gun parts, and a liquid methamphetamine conversion lab.

On June 7, José Mendoza, 34, of Medanales, was sentenced to 10 years and four months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Ryan Rodriguez, 29, of Chamita, was sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Shawn Phillips, 44, received a federal sentence to run consecutively to his pending state charges. The Court further sentenced Phillips to three years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $50,718.

On June 10, Sergio Trevino, 35, was sentenced to 214 months in prison. On March 31, 2021, Trevino pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a federal officer and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence. Trevino was sentenced to 94 months in prison on the assault charge and 120 months on the use of a firearm charge with both sentences to run consecutively.