News Releases and Statements

Javier Martinez, 48, was convicted in June of one count of unlawful reentry after deportation, five counts of making false claims of U.S. citizenship, five counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.

Carlos Manuel Cruz, 40, was sentenced Thursday to 5 years, 6 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

During the interview, Colby William Ochsenhirt admitted he viewed the child pornography video. He did not know whether the video was a live stream, meaning he did not know if the child was being victimized at the time he viewed it.

Conor Ryan Kelly Broderick, a Washington man with a history of child exploitation, was sentenced Thursday to 151 months in prison and 20 years' supervised release for possession of child pornography.

Acting DHS Secretary Rand Beers today joined ICE Acting Director John Sandweg, U.S. Special Operations Command Director of the Care Coalition Kevin McDonnell and National Association to Protect Children Executive Director Grier Weeks in a swearing in ceremony for 17 veterans as part of the inaugural class of HERO Corps.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents provided investigative leads to the National Police Agency of Japan (NPA) resulting in the Sept. 26 arrest of two Japanese nationals and the seizure of a firearm.

Parrish Kappes, 47, of Tuscola, Ill., was convicted Oct. 2 in the Central District of Illinois.

Ross William Ulbricht, aka Dread Pirate Roberts and DPR, 29, of San Francisco, was charged in a three-count indictment in the District of Maryland with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, attempted witness murder and using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire.

All the defendants were taken into custody in the morning hours of Sept. 30 at various locations in and around Chicago. They appeared later in the day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel G. Martin, and all were ordered held until their next court appearances.

A California woman was sentenced Monday to three years in federal prison for illegally transporting hundreds of container loads of Chinese-origin honey through the Chicago area after it unlawfully entered the country.

The owners of two El Cajon neighborhood markets are expected to appear in state court tomorrow on charges they defrauded a state and federal food stamp program out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Erick Anderson Mejia-Ayala, a Salvadoran man wanted for murder in his home country, was deported Friday by officers with ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Michael Ortiz, the father of a Bay Area gang member, was sentenced Friday to 70 months in prison for obstruction of justice and being an accessory-after-the-fact to three racketeering murders committed by his son, Joseph Ortiz.

The charges are the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG) and the New York State Inspector General.

There are many ICE employees who are currently serving in the National Guard and in all branches of the reserves. Contributing to that rich culture is ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent, and Army reservist, Norman B. Green, who was promoted to brigadier general during a ceremony at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Sept. 14.

"Kenneth Royal Wheeler made Facebook posts with instructions for people to kill children at a local daycare. He also told his ""followers"" to kill specific police officers, as well as their families and children."

HSI special agents arrested Gerardo V. Navarro-Rodriguez at his medical office in Caguas after an investigation revealed he allegedly induced, coerced and enticed at least one 17-year-old male minor to engage in commercial sexual acts.

Representatives from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), helped the Florida Attorney General's Office unveil a new human trafficking awareness campaign Friday in Hillsborough County.

Eight individuals arrested last week in Jamaica for their involvement in a fraudulent lottery scheme were charged Friday with various criminal violations.

Dakota Robert Rogers pleaded guilty to distributing Fentanyl, a potent opium-based pain killer, before U.S. District Court Judge Sam E. Haddon. Sentencing has been set for Feb. 21.

Mohammad Ajmal Choudhry was arraigned Wednesday on a superseding indictment charging him with conspiring to commit murder in a foreign county, transmitting threats via interstate communications and visa fraud.

Authorities with the Santa Cruz County High Intensity Drug Trafficking (HIDTA) Investigative Task Force interdicted a large drug smuggling attempt Thursday, seizing more than 2,900 pounds of marijuana from a horse trailer on Highway 82 near Nogales.

The defendant, Doru Gabriel Trifu, allegedly conducted more than 230 fraudulent transactions with Internet purchasers in Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.

Alex Sanchez Jr., manager of El Mezcal Mexican Restaurant in eastern Kansas, was indicted in federal court Friday on nine counts related to hiring and harboring illegal aliens for his business.

James Joseph Carothers, a Bay Area man identified as part of a global child pornography probe spearheaded by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), was convicted Wednesday following a weeklong trial in state court.