News Releases and Statements

Domingo Agustin-Simon, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell to 42 years in federal prison for conspiracy, hostage taking and brandishing a shotgun in connection with hostage taking. Leonardo Rabanales-Casia, 30, was sentenced at the same hearing to 25 years in prison for conspiracy and hostage taking.

Marcos Sanchez Hernandez, an illegal alien from Mexico who lived in Riverdale, Md., was sentenced Friday to 36 months in prison for transporting more than 100 women from other states to engage in commercial sex in Virginia.

He is expected to be deported after he serves his prison sentence.

Six people were sentenced Tuesday following their convictions in an illegal alien harboring/transportation conspiracy after an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Yimmy Pineda-Penado, aka Critico, 22, of Alexandria, Va., was sentenced by United States District Judge Anthony J. Trenga today to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his role in a gang-run juvenile prostitution ring.

Three Mexican men face federal charges following their arrest Friday at a West Valley drop house discovered by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). HSI special agents were first alerted to the drop house Dec. 5 after a woman contacted HSI Atlanta to report that a man was demanding she pay him $4,000 or he would kill her niece.

It began with a routine traffic stop in Tampa, Fla. On Feb. 4, just after 5 p.m., Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies pulled over 21-year-old Kathleen Roberson. Not only did she not have a valid driver's license, but she was also transporting five illegal aliens in her Kia Sorrento.

The extradition and arraignment of four Mexican sex traffickers, along with the reunion of a Mexican sex trafficking victim and her child, was announced Dec. 10 as a result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Late Wednesday night special agents with ICE's HSI recovered a toddler who had been separated from her mother during a human smuggling venture.

A former Sacramento woman, Helen Jean Singh, was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in federal prison on charges stemming from a probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI that linked her to a scheme to sex traffic teenage girls.

Two Mexican nationals pleaded guilty Thursday to their roles in an ongoing conspiracy to hold hostage and harbor smuggled aliens for ransom payments, as a result of an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) offices in Houston, Washington, D.C., and Virginia; and Prince William County, Va., and Houston Police.

Alex Campbell, 47, formerly of Glenview, Ill., operated the Day and Night Spa on Northwest Highway in Mt. Prospect, Ill. He used violence and threats of violence to force three women from Ukraine and one from Belarus to work for him without pay and, at times, little to no subsistence between July 2008 and January 2010.

Leonel Alvaro Abundis-Carreon, 22, pleaded guilty Aug. 6 before U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzalez-Ramos, who sentenced him to a term of 78 months in federal prison, which is to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Martinez faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 25.

ICE's Hidden In Plain Sight campaign is part of the Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign.

Julio Cesar Revolorio Ramos faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 8.

A Honduran national, Cesar Avila, was sentenced Monday to 35 years in federal prison following multiple convictions in a hostage-taking and alien-harboring conspiracy. As an illegal alien, Avila is expected to face deportation proceedings after he completes his 35-year prison sentence.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2013.

Evidence introduced during the trial established that Jean-Claude "Kodjo" Toviave, a native of Togo, West Africa, used force, and threats of force, to obtain the domestic labor of four minors from Togo from January 2006 to January 2011.

In Soon Kim, the owner of the Kyoto Hot Stone Spa, was arrested Wednesday by special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and charged with recruiting prostitutes for her business.

Zhen Lai, 37, of Quincy, Mass., and Joseph Girouard, 55, of Revere, were arrested this afternoon by HSI special agents and the Massachusetts State Police. Lai was arrested in Quincy and Girouard was arrested in Somerville, Mass. Lai and Girouard are each charged with one count each of trafficking in persons for sexual servitude and keeping a house of ill fame.

Domingo Agustin-Simon, 31, and Leonardo Rabanales-Casia, 30, were both convicted of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, hostage taking, bringing in illegal aliens for profit, and harboring illegal aliens for profit.

An illegal alien from Mexico who lived in Riverdale, Md., pleaded guilty Monday to transporting more than 100 women from other states to engage in commercial sex in Virginia.

Carmen Alonzo, 58, of Progreso, Texas, was sentenced Oct. 11 to 72 months in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge Randy Crane. Judge Crane also heard arguments supporting sentencing enhancements.