News Releases and Statements

Michael Ray Robertson, 64, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography March 24. The case was the product of “Operation Sunflower,” a nationwide investigation targeting purveyors of child pornography that began in 2012. The name is based on a case in which a sunflower-shaped highway road sign identified in online images led to the rescue of an 11-year-old girl in Kansas.

Jesus Lopez, aka “Worst Ever” 36, from Eagle Pass, pleaded guilty to federal RICO charges Aug. 25. According to court records, on Jan. 22, 2011, Lopez told TMM member and co-defendant Anselmo Flores, 28, from Eagle Pass, to stab and murder Eagle Pass resident Angel Cantu.

Timothy Jones, 26, of Memphis, Tennessee, was also sentenced to restitution to the victims in the amount of $13,688, a special assessment of $800, and supervised release after the term of imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman.

Daniel Tyler Morgan, 30, of Jupiter, is charged with using the Internet to persuade, induce or entice a child to engage in prohibited sexual activity.

Noel Blackman, a Long Island, New York, medical doctor and the former Health Minister of Guyana, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to illegally distribute oxycodone, a highly addictive prescription pain medication.

Erik Rodriguez, 25, admitted to possessing and producing child pornography at his residence in Rupert, Idaho. Rodriguez’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 8 before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

William Allen Patterson, 34, from Alamogordo, New Mexico, was arrested Aug. 10 on a criminal complaint alleging that he possessed and received visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity from 2002 to 2012, and Aug. 10 in Otero County, New Mexico.

Joseph Edward Conner, 47, of Bay Point, admitted he engaged in three transactions with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) undercover agent in an effort to distribute the methamphetamine. On Aug. 22, 2014, Conner negotiated the sale of a half-pound of 99 percent pure methamphetamine for $3,000. 

Charles Shearon, 60, of Goodlettsville, Elmer Hill, 69, of Brentwood, Michael Curlett, 49, of Wixom, Michigan, and Arnold See, Jr., 59, of Murfreesboro were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell. Sentences ranged from 13 to 18 months. 

A Salvadoran national from Van Nuys was sentenced Tuesday to 145 months in federal prison after being convicted of using the internet to distribute child pornography. The case is the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A Fort Worth man was sentenced Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to five years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

“It has been proven, time and again, that a law enforcement community, a police force, a law enforcement organization that looks like the community that they serve builds trust,” said Secretary Johnson. “When I look around this room at all the people who work for DHS, I have tremendous optimism for our future.”

Wenxia Man, aka Wency Man, 45, of San Diego, was convicted June 9 by a federal jury on one count of conspiring to export and cause the export of defense articles without the required license.

Koren Robert Kechedzian, 25, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Philip S. Guttierez to pay restitution of $114,135 to victim financial institutions that suffered losses when the stolen credit card numbers were used for fraudulent purchases.

Jamal Moore, 33, is currently wanted in Hennepin County (Minneapolis) Minnesota on a state charge of promoting prostitution of a minor.

Leon Lussier is a substitute teacher formerly employed by the Bowling Green School system.  He was sentenced Aug. 19 to 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Greg N. Stivers for possessing and distributing child pornography.

Anthony Lester, 52, who formerly held high-level accounting positions with Century Builders and Highlands Energy Services, was convicted of two counts of mail fraud and five counts of money laundering, following a probe by ICE HSI and the Fresno Police Department. 

James VanBlaricum, 77, from Colleyville, Texas, made his initial appearance in federal court Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray, who ordered that he remain in custody pending a detention hearing set for Aug. 23.

Melvin Eduardo Ramos, 34, is wanted in his home country for aggravated murder.

New York City Police Department Commissioner William Bratton was the guest speaker Tuesday, Aug. 16, at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York’s quarterly leadership workshop.

Two co-defendants in this case, his father, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, aka “Chuy” and “Juan Ramos,” 60, and his cousin, Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, 60, also Mexican citizens, were each convicted at trial in May 2016 on one count of interstate stalking and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

Jerry Boucher, 43, of Avon, Indiana, had his initial appearance before a magistrate judge Aug. 18 and remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

According to documents filed in the case, on Nov. 14, 2015, special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the FBI, along with investigators with the Taylor County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office, received information that Pascual Jamie Avalos, 34, would be transporting an unknown quantity of methamphetamine from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to Abilene, Texas, in a gray 2015 Toyota Avalon.