News Releases and Statements

An investigation revealed that Internet Protocol addresses associated with Robert Beattie, 55, of the 400 block of Desiree Drive had been active in disseminating child pornography.

The operation investigated a conspiracy to distribute about 10 pounds of methamphetamine in Montana, much of which was orchestrated by defendant Jason Neel, 31, from inside a California prison while serving a sentence for second-degree murder.

Florin Hristea, 36, who also goes by Constantin Pendus, was going through immigration proceedings in the United States when Romanian authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in December 2012 to serve five years in prison for a conviction of fraud and using forged documents.

Cesar Estuardo Hernandez-Cruz, 28, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to producing child pornography before U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone. Hernandez-Cruz was indicted by a federal grand jury June 3.

Michael Thomas Millenkamp, 47, of Earlville, Iowa, was convicted on one count of harboring, encouraging and inducing aliens to reside unlawfully in the United States.

The complaint alleges Christina Cortez, 38, produced graphic child pornography images while working at a daycare facility in Corpus Christi, and that she further distributed them to Matthew Harbin, 29, of Brownsville.

Gongloff, 25, originally from Terra Alta, West Virginia, produced numerous images depicting nude minors and minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Through public outreach, HSI special agents identified the child victim.

Sherin Thawer, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft, and she faces a mandatory penalty of two years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

Lynn Denise Bilecki, 46, of Victoria, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey to 120 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Bilecki pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2014.

On June 17, the Des Moines Fugitive Operations Team arrested Ceu Awi Thang, 30, a citizen and national of Burma, who had been convicted for the sexual abuse of 15-year-old girl. He was sentenced to prison for ten years, two years of supervised probation and ordered to register as a sex offender on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry for the rest of his life.

Kenneth Gaylord Stokes, 71, a U.S. citizen who resided near the city of Cebu in the Philippines, was sentenced to 120 years in federal prison without parole.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Richard J. Dates, from Grants, New Mexico, faces being sentenced to five to 12 years in federal prison followed by not less than five years of supervised release.

HSI special agents arrested Manuel Fernandez-Gonzalez, 19, at the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport when he was about to board a plane to the Dominican Republic. The arrest took placed without incident.

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending July 31, 2015

The following four men were indicted July 9: Iain Nigel MacKellar, 58, of the United Kingdom; Lam Ngoc Tran, aka Mark Tran, 40, of Fountain Valley, California; Allen Smith, 49, of Phoenix; and William Humphreys, 58, of Laguna Hills, California.

The following individuals were charged by the Mercer County Prosecutor: Ying Lan Lu, 34 of Flushing, New York, was charged with promoting prostitution; Meihua Cui, 31 of Little, New Jersey, was charged with promoting prostitution and engaging in prostitution; Feng Rong Chen, 46 of Queens, New York, was charged with promoting prostitution; Dan Dan Lu, 29, of Queens, New York, was charged with engaging in prostitution; and Zhang Zhanping, 46, of Flushing, New York, was charged with promoting prostitution and engaging in prostitution.

In December 2014, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at the residence of Sean Patrick Mciver, 28 and seized various electronic devices. HSI special agents using peer-to-peer software were able to successfully download various files containing child pornography from an Internet Protocol address that was associated to Mciver.

Rickie Sitler previously pleaded guilty to using a four-year-old child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images, admitting to committing the crime between late November and early December 2014.

Rogelio “Roger” Cordero, 58, of New Castle, Delaware, will also be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school.

Jeremiah R. Malfroid, 34, of Hilliard, Ohio pleaded guilty to production of child pornography on April 2, 2015.

The students, 12 from Honduras and 12 from the Dominican Republic, graduated Friday following training hosted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which has successfully trained hundreds of international law enforcement officials from about a dozen countries.

According to court records, on July 2, 2014, Majid Iranpour Mobarekeh, 45, illegally sent and exported 450 firearm shell casings from the United States to the Republic of Iran.

Felix Restitullo, 40 of Jersey City, New Jersey, is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography.

Kevin Barry O’Connell, 54, pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography at his residence in Patchogue, New York. He faces a minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years, and a fine of $250,000.

Timoteo Gonzalez-Leiva, 42, of Honduras, was encountered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in January following the completion of his prison sentence for a battery conviction in Caddo Parish.