News Releases and Statements

U.S. ICE on Tuesday began using the Secure Communities program in Wicomico County to help federal immigration officials identify criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails by running their fingerprints against federal immigration databases when they are booked into the system.

ICE agents return more than $3,500 to victim of telemarketing fraud

Robert John Devalk, 38, of Saginaw, Texas, who pleaded guilty in November 2010 to one count of receiving child pornography, was also ordered to register as a sex offender and serve a lifetime of supervised release following his imprisonment. He has been in custody since his arrest in August 2010.

The Association of Former Customs Special Agents (AFCSA) consists of more than 850 individuals who work tirelessly to preserve the history of the U.S. Customs Service.

New Jersey businessman, company plead guilty to contracting fraud

Federal authorities unsealed an indictment Monday charging an Oceanside, Calif., motel and 38 individuals, mostly members and associates of the Oceanside Crips street gang, with racketeering and other charges related to the sex trafficking of underage girls and women.

The owner and the madame of a Korean room salon in Falls Church, Va., were sentenced today for conspiracy to both harbor illegal aliens and to induce illegal aliens to reside in the United States for commercial advantage and private financial gain following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

ICE deports suspect wanted in Mexico for murdering a 4-year-old boy

Border security task force seizes more than $1.3 million at cargo facility

The former director of case management at Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso was sentenced April 15 to 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography, following an investigation by special agents from U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Omar Jose Magana, 39, was also ordered to forfeit his home, valued at $152,605...

John E. Widdows, 72, of Cumberland, Md pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography. Law enforcement seized from Widdows' home three videos of a prepubescent female engaging in sexually explicit conduct at Widdows' direction and at least 100 additional images of child pornography.

Two illegal aliens from Mexico were sentenced on Thursday to federal prison for their roles in attempting to export munitions from the United States without a license, following an investigation conducted by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

In addition to the prison time, Anthony Bernard Ellrodt, 38, will be subject to 25 years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence. Ellrodt was previously convicted in September 1994 in Harvey County, Kansas, for aggravated indecent liberties with a child, for which he received a 32-month prison term.

Successful law enforcement officers run on instinct and quick thinking. These traits served Robert Barnes, an immigration enforcement agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), well the evening of March 24. Little did he know that his visit to a San Diego 7-Eleven would result in him taking down a knife-wielding thief.

A citizen of Lebanon, who fled to the United States to avoid prosecution in Germany for murder, was turned over to German authorities Thursday following an investigation by U.S. ICE. Taleb Hussein Zaaiter, 44, used a butcher knife to stab his German wife 30 times in 1992 while they lived in Katernberg-Essen, Germany.

"Special Agent James ""JD"" Kanatzar, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), was presented the Crystal Kipper and Ali Kemp Memorial Award Thursday for his outstanding service to crime victims."

Four special agents from ICE's HSI were recognized on Thursday for their recent investigations by U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II, District of Maine. The agents were recognized in ceremonies in Bangor and Portland as part of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, April 10-16.

Douglas Lazarus, 49, a Michigan resident and prior sex offender, was sentenced Thursday on a child pornography conviction following a ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court in the case that held that viewing child pornography on websites constitutes possession of child pornography.

A local man was found guilty on Wednesday for being a felon illegally possessing ammunition and attempting to export it into Mexico without a license, announced U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas.

In 2008, within 24 hours, five teenagers were apprehended at the San Ysidro Port in San Diego, Calif., and the Calexico Port in Imperial Valley, Calif. Each of them had narcotics strapped to their torsos and legs. Drug smuggling organizations had enlisted the teens' assistance in smuggling narcotics into the United States.

A federal indictment, unsealed today in federal court, charged Oscar Lazo, 51, a citizen of Peru; Eva Ramos, 35, a citizen of the United States; Mauricio Cruz, a citizen of Mexico; Manuel Cruz, a citizen of Mexico; and an unnamed defendant with conspiring to sell the stolen identities of U.S. citizens.

A former agent for the Mexican judicial police, who is wanted in his native country on drug trafficking charges, was turned over to Mexican law enforcement officials at the border crossing here Wednesday morning following his capture in the Bay Area by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

George Andrew Burkey, 34, who pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography via a peer-to-peer software sharing website, was sentenced in federal court to 85 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

William L. Ferguson, 38, of Burkburnett, Texas, pleaded guilty in November 2010 to one count of possessing child pornography. Judge O'Connor also ordered that Ferguson, who was taken into custody following the sentencing hearing, register as a sex offender and serve a lifetime of supervised release.

Herbert Poche, 60, of Jefferson, La., was sentenced in federal court today to 97 months in prison for receiving child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).