News Releases and Statements

Jovany Alonso Robledo-Delgado, 35, of Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash. Robledo-Delgado previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, and heroin.

Rito Salomon Palacios, 53, from Laredo, was sentenced June 24. His sentence is to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.

The IPR Center today announced dual partnerships with Grace Farms Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused ending modern slavery and violence, and Liberty Shared, a global counter-trafficking nongovernmental organization, to advance their collective shared missions of eliminating wildlife and other natural capital trafficking crimes around the world.

Jorge Juan Torres-Lopez, 67, a former interim governor of Coahuila, Mexico, pleaded guilty to the charges on June 16, 2020. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.

Alvaro Vega-Rodriguez, 27, from Brownsville, was sentenced June 23, in federal court to 78 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to serve 20 years of supervised release and comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. And he will have to register as a sex offender. Vega-Rodriguez pleaded guilty Feb. 4, 2020.

According to the indictment – which was unsealed following the arrest – Mezemr Abebe Belayneh, 65, of Snellville, served as a civilian interrogator at a makeshift prison in Dilla, Ethiopia, during a period in the late 1970s known as the Red Terror.

On June 15, William Scotts Simms, 73, was indicted on three counts for aiding and abetting the attempt to illegally export a silencer, possession of 11 unregistered machine guns and possession of an unregistered silencer.

Emmanuel Oppongagyare, 20, and Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie, 18, were charged with human smuggling. Saint-Joie is an active duty member of the U.S. Army, while Oppongagyare is a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Both men are stationed at Fort Hood.

The week-long operation conducted in mid-May is ongoing. The Paseo Del Norte Center of Hope, the El Paso Center for Children Youth Outreach & Housing Division and Drop-in Center also assisted.

ICE HSI in collaboration with Brazil Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) Secretariat for Integrated Operations (SEOPI) Cyber Laboratory, executed phase eight of Operation Protected Childhood (OPC) resulting in the arrest of approximately 88 alleged child predators. This large-scale simultaneous enforcement action was executed between June 8 and June 11.

Paul Edman, 53, plead guilty in March 2021 to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns filed with Internal Revenue Service.

The new program will serve as a more comprehensive and inclusive victim support system offered by ICE that will ensure services are offered to all victims regardless of immigration status of the victim or perpetrator.

On June 10, HSI special agents arrested Manuel de Jesus Ochoa-Vasquez, 38; Carlos Barron-Arredondo, 46; Fabiola Flores-Galves, 46; Isaac Gonzalez-Matul, 34; Oscar Roberto Mejia-De Leon, 25; Saul Martinez-Mercado, 35; Argeo Mendoza-Galvez, 48; Sandra Cuevas-Montesinos, 45; Rolando Cota-Leyva 39; David Lopez-Laurean, 30; Ronaldo Garde-Cienfuegos, 40; and Juan Manuel Osorio-Felix, 36.

Gurpal Singh Gill, 39, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine as charged in a superseding information. Gill faces a mandatory minimum five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release.

The partnership represents an important step for global intellectual property rights protection and will focus on mutual goals that allow for the exchange and sharing of information between the Law School and the IPR Center to develop a unified approach in the enforcement of intellectual property rights around the world.

Michael David Mathisen, who pleaded guilty in October 2020, has past convictions in 1984 and 1994 for sexually molesting children under the age of nine.

Wilver Jose Polanco Alvarez, 26, residing in Miami, and Jose Eduardo Gomez Salas, 25, residing in New York, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. Both appeared before Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones.

Cecilio Gonzalez-Espino, 31, was convicted of multiple felony methamphetamine charges in California in 2011. As a result of his prior convictions and undocumented status, Gonzalez-Espino is prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition.

HSI and CBP, OFO, have identified the increased use of social media platforms such as Facebook, by TCOs, to recruit and facilitate drug smuggling in the El Paso area. The TCOs advertise various jobs such as money couriers for money service businesses such as Casas De Cambio, or money exchange houses, and unsuspecting job seekers reply with their interest to the advertisement. The solicitor, or “recruiter,” will then send a direct message to the job seeker with more information about the job.

Jose Arevalo-Inestroza, 29, of Kansas City, Missouri, a Honduran national who is unlawfully present in the U.S., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays on June 2, to five years in federal prison without parole.

A two-day undercover operation involving HSI and multiple Tennessee local and state law enforcement agencies resulted in the arrest of six individuals accused of seeking illicit sex from minors.

According to documents on file with the court, Preston Andrew Watson, 30, of Scott County, Tennessee, duped, extorted and threatened minors located in the United States and abroad to obtain sexually explicit images from them.

According to court documents, Elvin Hunter Bgorn Williams, 20, of Seattle, was arrested as he prepared to board an international flight following a lengthy investigation into his efforts to join ISIS.

David Ray Shaver, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth. Shaver faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.

Jesus Camacho-Luque, 31, of Arizona, was sentenced by the Washoe County District Court after pleading guilty in April. Based on the sentenced received, Camacho-Luque must serve a minimum of seven years in prison before he is eligible for parole.