News Releases and Statements

Jose Gimenez-Lobos, 32, received the lengthy prison sentence at the U.S. District Court in Richmond on July 24.

ERO officers escorted Jose Ramon Barcenas Diaz, 34, from Omaha, Nebraska, to a port of entry where he was removed from the United States and transferred to Mexican authorities.

ERO Boston removed Fulvio Alexandre Oliveira Silva, 42, to Brazil on July 20 via ICE Air Operations after he received a final order of removal from a U.S. immigration judge.

The HSI-led effort, dubbed Operation Rolling Fire, partnered more than 20 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations during a child exploitation and human trafficking recovery initiative.

On July 24, HSI New Orleans and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested Max Cory Johnson Jr. on child exploitation charges after an investigation revealed he was accessing and downloading child sexual abuse material. Johnson had been employed as a daycare specialist at YouFit Gyms in Harvey since December 2022.

The 39-year-old Salvadoran national had been previously removed from the United States following an April 2022 conviction for a third-degree sex offense in Baltimore County.

Joshua M. Rodgers, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to one count of transporting child pornography.

According to court documents, Cherakee Lee Perez, 33, of Presidio County, provided a negative declaration during a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle inspection at the Presidio Port of Entry from Mexico into the United States.

Jesus Manuel Galvez-Rivas, 22, is wanted in Mexico for sexting and corruption of minors. He flew from Denver International Airport to San Diego International Airport. Then, ERO San Diego International Liaison Unit officials removed him from the United States through the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Ysidro, California, and turned him over to Mexican authorities.

HSI Kansas City acting Special Agent in Charge of Taekuk Cho, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol announced a new collaborative initiative to combat fentanyl in Kansas called the Joint Fentanyl Impact Team.

Akolade Ojo, 31, of Owings Mills, received the 46-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release at the U.S. District Court in Baltimore on July 5. Ojo must also pay $1,320,186.19 in restitution.

The 35-year-old native of Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala, is wanted by law enforcement authorities for felony charges of child abuse, crimes against children and abduction in Guatemala. He is the subject of a Red Notice issued by Interpol, the international criminal police organization.

On July 20, ERO Boston removed Thiago Jorge-Alves, 37, an unlawfully present Brazilian fugitive wanted for drug trafficking in Brazil.

The 21-year-old noncitizen unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location. U.S. Border Patrol encountered him Dec. 25, 2021, near Hidalgo, Texas, served him with a notice to appear, and transferred him to ICE custody.

Heriverto Ramirez, 36, of Brownsville, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 1,741 grams of fentanyl on July 20 following an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider for the District of North Dakota announced that Juan Sillas-Rocha, 45, of Tijuana, Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, continuing criminal enterprise, and conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of the continuing criminal enterprise before Chief Judge Peter Welte in Fargo, North Dakota, on July 13.

On an unknown date at an unknown location, the noncitizen illegally entered the United States without being inspected, admitted or paroled by an immigration officer. On Aug. 29, 2022, the Nassau County Court convicted him of sexual abuse first degree: contact by forcible compulsion.

A federal judge sentenced Miguel Angel Ceballos-Acuna, 30, a Mexican citizen residing illegally in the United States, to federal prison following his conviction of attempted human smuggling resulting in the death of a child.

On July 12, a judge sentenced Javier Garza Jr., 24, of Port Isabel, for producing child sexual abuse material following an HSI Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force investigation.

David Edward King, 59, of Ellicott City, Maryland, pleaded guilty Feb. 14, and the judge sentenced him to 168 months in prison followed by 30 years of supervised release.

ICE Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Patrick J. Lechleitner traveled to Rome to repatriate an original edition of a stolen 15th century Columbus letter to Italian officials on July 19. HSI had collaborated with international partners and subject matter experts since September 2011 on this multifaceted international investigation.

The alliance provides a multifaceted approach to disrupting and dismantling organized theft groups through partnerships, investigations and consumer awareness. Organized theft groups are sophisticated criminal organizations that profit from illegally obtaining goods that are later sold for economic gain, such as through cargo theft, organized retail crime, and other theft- and fraud-related criminal activities.

On June 14, a judge sentenced Veronica Dittman, 28, of Tempe, to five years in prison for her role in operating multiple darknet pages selling illicit drugs with two previously sentenced co-conspirators. The sentence follows a multiagency investigation involving HSI Arizona.

On July 11, a judge sentenced Hector Francisco Ramirez-Roman, 39, of San Luis, Rio Colorado, Mexico, to 108 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for posing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Deportation officers from ICE ERO Washington, D.C. removed Josue Salvador Hernandez-Portillo, an undocumented Salvadoran national, from the United States to El Salvador on July 14. Hernandez-Portillo was wanted by authorities in his home country for deprivation of liberty and aggravated homicide.