News Releases and Statements

Blasina Vargas, 53, Dolores Vargas, 63, and Ignacio Escandon, 48, were arrested in Houston and will appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances H. Stacy Oct. 29.

Karin Yamilec Aguilar-Melgor, 22, was sentenced Oct. 29 by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales to 78 months in prison after accepting her guilty plea June 5. Aguilar-Melgor must also serve three years of supervised release.

Manuel and Juan Diaz-Perdomo and Henrry Lizama-Sanchez, all Salvadoran nationals, allegedly received $9,700 in U.S. currency in June 2014 to smuggle a mother and daughter to New York from El Salvador. Other individuals involved in the scheme also tried to extort additional money from the family upon their arrival in the United States.

Elin Coello-Ordonez, 32, pleaded guilty in June 2013. He is currently serving a five-year federal prison term on an immigration charge which resulted from the same investigation. In total, Coello-Ordonez will serve 15 years in federal prison.

Eleven Colombian citizens face charges for human trafficking of minors, pimping and pandering. Details regarding the remaining individual are not being disclosed pending the completion of the investigation.

According to court documents, the indictment charges Eric Alexander Rodriguez, 20, Brandon Troy Robbins, 20, and Christopher David Wix, 21, all active-duty US Army soldiers stationed at Fort Hood.

Henry Gill, 44, from South Carolina was found guilty following a two-day trial that started Oct.5.

Agustin Lopez-Guzman and Alonso Lopez-Guzman, both of Maryland Heights, Missouri, were sentenced Sept. 30 to five years and two years in federal prison, respectively.

Damion St. Patrick Baston, 37, of New York, was convicted July 3 on three counts of sex trafficking – both in the U.S. and Australia – five counts of transporting multiple individuals for prostitution, one count of importation of an alien for prostitution, one count of using a passport secured by false statement, one count of aggravated identity theft and nine counts of money laundering. Baston was also found guilty of illegally reentering the United States after being previously removed.

Steven Thompson's accomplice in these crimes Tierra Waters was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of a minor.

Nearly 80 law enforcement officers from 30 Maine and Canadian agencies partnered with the newly-commissioned HSI task force in order to combat this form of modern day slavery across the state. The task force is designed to bring together the expertise, training, experience and law enforcement authorities of the partnered agencies to help identify human traffickers, and prosecute them while also protecting and aiding victims.

Yoel Emilio Baez-Hernandez, 41, of Hialeah, was also ordered to pay a $73,000 fine and to forfeit an outboard motor go-fast vessel, a 2006 BMW vehicle, a liquor store license, equipment and inventory that are traceable to proceeds of the offenses. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment in the amount of $730,000, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. A federal jury found Baez-Hernandez guilty July 2.

Caballero, also known as "El Chino," allegedly charged smuggling fees, equivalent to $7,000 per adult and $4,000 per child in US currency, to illegally smuggle individuals into the United States.

According to his plea agreement, Habtom Merhay, 47, who operated primarily from his residence in Dubai, orchestrated the unlawful smuggling of up to 99 undocumented African nationals into the United States for profit.

In June 2014, Dereck Johnson, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking children.

"It's important for all of ICE to have our employees recognized for the hard work they're doing in the field. And it shows our collaboration with the Justice Department," said HSI Executive Associate Director Peter Edge.

The following five men from Michoacan, Mexico, who pleaded guilty just one month after their March arrests,were convicted of conspiring to harbor and transport illegal aliens and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence: Jose Aviles-Villa, 32; Antonio Barruquet-Hildeberta, 46; Jonathan Solorzano-Tavila, 30; Jose Cesmas-Borja, 26; and Eugenio Sesmas-Borja, 20.

Charles Marquez, 54, was sentenced Sept. 3 as the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, together with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), as part of Operation Cross-Country, a nationwide initiative that focuses on child prostitution.

Frances Salas, 27, a U.S. citizen and resident of Phoenix, and Jesus Millan-Rodriguez, 31, a Mexican national, were booked into the Maricopa County Jail, each charged with kidnapping and possession of marijuana for sale.

Greek national Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos is believed to have run the human smuggling ring.

Noe Aranda-Soto, aka Diablo or Chulo or Wache, 34, was indicted in Victoria last week. Aranda-Soto was a fugitive until his arrest by law enforcement in 2012. The indictment alleges brandishing firearms and using a firearm in relation to hostage taking resulting in death, which is murder. The indictment further alleges hostage taking, harboring undocumented aliens, transporting undocumented aliens, related conspiracy charges, and illegal re-entry into the United States after being previously deported.

The following defendants from Mexico received individual sentences that included hostage taking: Andres Perez-Moshan, 37, 264 months in prison, Humberto Alvarez-Cheo, 25, 120 months in prison, Roberto Salinas-Martinez, 29, 120 months in prison and Euclides Moreno-Dominguez, 34, 204 months in prison.

Jose Cruz Romero-Flores, 39, Felix Rios-Martinez, 48, and Raul Romero-Castillo, 31, all from Lakewood, were sentenced to five years in state prison for conspiracy to facilitate human trafficking. Santos Lazaero Florez-Cruz, 59, of Union City and Haliro Bueno, 22, of Lakewood, were sentenced to three years for promoting prostitution.

The victims ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old, and were forced into prostitution in the Boca Chica area. Sixteen of the 25 victims were minors; 12 were girls and four were boys.

Shahid Hassan Muslim, aka Sharp, faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison. His conviction follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with the assistance from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Police Department.