News Releases and Statements

Pabón-Santiago was charged and convicted with four counts of production of child pornography. From approximately June 2009 to December 2009, in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, Pabón-Santiago employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed and coerced two female minors and two male minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Specifically, lascivious conduct, that is, still images using a mobile phone with camera capabilities and a memory card, which had been mailed, shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

Joseph Gittings, 26, of Cumming, Ga., was arrested in November 2009 as part of the international takedown of the "Boy Lover Network," (BLN) an on-line forum dedicated to the discussion and promulgation of man-boy love.

David Aric Ladewig pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography in an investigation conducted by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Donald Wayne Waters, 44, formerly of Winnie, Texas, and a current resident of Houston, was indicted on June 22, for attempting to distribute, receive and possess child pornography. He was arrested on June 29 in Galveston.

A Mexican citizen tracked down by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol agents Thursday is facing multiple federal counts related to human smuggling resulting in death following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

James Waddell, 33, was charged in an indictment with 16 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of inducing travel to engage in illegal sexual activity and one count of online enticement.

Woman tried to enter Mexico with more than $270,000 hidden in teddy bears and pillows

Alejandro Enrique Young-Hernandez of Hyde Park, Vt., has been charged with transporting women from New York to Vermont to engage in prostitution. The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

William Hurlbut of Fredericksburg, Va., pleaded guilty to producing child pornography following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Hurlbut admitted performing sexual acts with a sleeping eight-year-old boy and filming those acts with his iPhone in 2009.

Gordon D. Gazaway, 53, of Bellevue, Wash., was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2010. Three months later, he pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of child pornography.

Jose Ortiz Ortiz-Rijos, aka Piculin, a former member of Puerto Rico's Olympic basketball team, was arrested Wednesday on drug charges by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). A search warrant at his residence revealed a fully operational marijuana cultivation room.

One hundred fourteen individuals were indicted for drug trafficking by a federal grand jury on Monday. The object of the conspiracy was to distribute and supply controlled substances within the La Perla Ward housing project and numerous public housing projects, municipalities and towns in Puerto Rico for significant financial gain.

Steven Waring, 32, of Titusville, Fla., is employed by the Brevard County School Board at Space Coast Junior/Senior High School.

Thirteen men and women were arrested earlier this month during a three-day operation targeting violent gang members throughout the San Juan metropolitan area by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and assisted by local law enforcement agencies.

More than 2,000 items of counterfeit Major League Baseball (MLB) clothing seized by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in San Francisco during last year's baseball playoffs will soon be on their way to the needy in Haiti.

Jonathan Zahra, 27, of Plainville, was sentenced in a case investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Plainville Police Department. After his prison term he will also serve 10 years of supervised release.

Court records revealed that from about 2000 through 2007, the dairy employed 78 different illegal aliens, which constituted almost 75 percent of its workforce over that time period. Aquila Farms failed to conduct the necessary inquiries to determine the employment eligibility of its work force, as required by federal immigration laws.

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging a 31-year-old Ashford man with receiving and possessing child pornography. Richard Hendricks, a former computer teacher at East Hampton Middle School, was investigated by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Connecticut State Police, and the East Hampton Police Department.

About 531 kilograms (1168 pounds) of cocaine with a street value of $16 million was seized from a St. Thomas residence on Monday by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department (USVIPD). In addition to the cocaine, ICE HSI special agents and USVIPD officers also seized two automatic pistols.

Four men convicted of taking 10 aliens hostage, including one man who accidently shot himself, were sentenced on Monday to 11 to 20 years in prison for threatening their hostages. The investigation was conducted by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) with the assistance of Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office.

Two men, who tripped a sensor on the U.S.-Canada border on Dec. 15, 2010 and were later found to be carrying more than $650,000 in U.S. and Canadian currency, were sentenced in federal court following their bulk-cash smuggling guilty pleas. This case was investigated by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Kevin Kaller Wright, 44, of Santa Monica, Calif., received the 84-month sentence from U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Morrow.

On Saturday, 132 kilograms (290 pounds) of cocaine with a street value of $11 million was seized from concealed inside a dump truck in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, by agents and officers from the following agencies: U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD).

Edwin Rodriguez was arrested on Wednesday charged with sexually abusing a woman who was detained at the Willacy Detention Center (WDC), an ICE-contracted detention facility in Raymondville, Texas. The case was investigated by U.S. ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) in Harlingen, Texas.

Matthew Andrew Carter, operator of Morning Star Center, a residential facility located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that provided food and shelter to minors, was charged Thursday with sexually abusing minors in Haiti.