News Releases and Statements

A federal jury found a Guatemalan woman, Alma Lucrecia Hernandez-Preciado, guilty of smuggling drugs Friday in violation of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act.

Massmio Fiorani, 35, of Italy, interfered with the duties of flight crew members and attendants onboard a U.S. Airways flight from Barcelona to Philadelphia Aug. 7.

According to court documents, Davis Norman III, 36, of New Orleans, duplicated and sold copyrighted motion pictures and music using a home DVD/CD burner. Norman then sold illegal copies for $10 from his car in a parking lot located along North Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans.

According to court documents, between October 2012 and April 2013, Deshawn King, 33, and Daniel Blount, 31, both of Allentown, recruited and enticed heroin-addicted women to perform commercial sex acts at their direction by promising a continuous supply of money and heroin.

Michael Gallanter, 48, and Ethan Oliver Wynne-Wade, 31, both from San Francisco, Calif., each pleaded guilty in June to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 kilograms, but less than 100 kilograms, of marijuana.

According to the evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Alexander Lee, 31, used a peer-to-peer program to download child pornography.

If convicted, Pedro Benevides, 44, of Astatula, faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison, a $1 million fine for each of 19 charged counts and a monetary judgment of $44 million - the proceeds of the charged conspiracy.

ERO officers took Reyes-Alejandro into custody Aug. 29 following his release from federal prison after he served 6 months for illegally re-entering the United States in February.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

HSI special agents arrested and charged Brett Strothers, 32, of Egg Harbor Township, and his brother, Evan Strothers, 28, of Mays Landing, with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods.

Billy Dewayne Mills, 34, of Tucson, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court, after pleading guilty March 7 to knowingly accessing child pornography. In addition to the prison term, Curtis will be subject to lifetime supervised release with stringent conditions, including registration as a sex offender.

According to the plea agreement, from approximately 2009 to September 2012, John Alexander Talley, 42, and his company conspired with others to unlawfully export sophisticated enterprise-level computer equipment from the United States to Iran.

Allen's Blueberry Freezer Inc. is a wild blueberry grower, freezer and processor in eastern Maine. They currently employ 45 at their Ellsworth facility. The partnership was marked Wednesday by a signing ceremony at the company's facility.

According to court documents, the CNCPO executed a search warrant on a child pornography website server and identified more than 900 United States-based users of the website. The CNCPO provided the identities of these users to HSI. Jason Jay Mills, 36, of Wilmington, was identified as on those users. HSI conducted similar investigations of the identified individuals across the United States.

Dante Reyes, a Texas leader of the Latin Kings street gang, was sentenced Wednesday in Hammond, Ind. to 262 months in federal prison for racketeering conspiracy.

Almaz Nezirovic, 54, of Roanoke, Va., allegedly committed human rights abuses against Serb civilians detained at the camp. He is wanted in Bosnia to stand trial for committing war crimes against civilians between April and July 1992 during the Bosnian War.

On Monday, Jorge Valadez, 53, a Laredo high school teacher, was charged by U.S. Magistrate Judge Guillermo R. Garcia with receiving and distributing child pornography via the Internet.

Richard J. Simone, 23, of Acworth, Ga., faces up to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for traveling to have sexual contact with a minor. He faces between five and 20 years and a $250,000 fine for distributing child pornography.

Stephen Lewis, 21, of Oceanside, Calif., was taken into custody Saturday by Morgan Hill Police detectives and HSI special agents.

Harley Michael Peterson, 23, admitted that he began communicating with a child he knew to be 15 years old starting April 1 and continuing through Aug. 4, 2012.

The indictment follows an investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Prince George's and Montgomery police departments as well as the Prince George's and Montgomery state attorney's offices.

The production of 'Too Close To Home,' continues a long tradition of WEDU programs that address important issues facing our community.

Alexis Estevez-Alvarez, 45, of Havana, Cuba, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane to 110 and 20 months, respectively, for the drug and failure-to-appear convictions; these sentences are to be served consecutively for a total sentence of 130 months in federal prison.

According to the complaint, since June 2012, members of the organization used a source of supply located in China to obtain significant quantities of Methylone, as well as several other synthetic substances. Methylone is a stimulant ... known commonly as MDMA or ecstasy.