News Releases and Statements

The individuals arrested throughout New Jersey were nationals of Argentina (1), Bolivia (1), Brazil (4), Colombia (3), Costa Rica (1), Cuba (2), Dominican Republic (9), Ecuador (9), El Salvador (12), Ghana (1), Guatemala (16), Honduras (9), India (2), Jamaica (2), Mexico (32), Nigeria (1), Panama (1), Peru (2), Philippines (1), Poland (2), Spain (2), United Kingdom (1), and Venezuela (1).

According to court documents and admissions made in connection to his plea agreement, Colonel Mark Visconi, 48, of Fairfax, received and attempted to receive child pornography through the Internet.

Vagner Geniu-Abreu, 39, of Brazil, was previously removed September 24, 2010, after a federal immigration judge issued him a final order of removal. Illegally reentering the United States after being lawfully removed is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Pursuant to an investigation by ICE’s HSI New York, working with the Department of Justice, Airbus SE (Airbus or the company), a global provider of civilian and military aircraft based in France, has agreed to pay combined penalties of more than $3.9 billion to resolve foreign bribery charges with authorities in the United States, France and the United Kingdom arising out of the company’s scheme to use third-party business partners to bribe government officials, as well as non-governmental airline executives, around the world and to resolve the company’s violation of the AECA and its implementing regulations, the ITAR, in the United States.

The case against Donald Dale Knuckles, 61, of Phoenix, began in November of 2018 when HSI special agents in Phoenix observed a computer that was sharing digital files containing graphic depictions of child sexual exploitation over a peer-to-peer file sharing network.

An Iraqi judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri, 42, on murder charges. The Government of Iraq subsequently requested Ahmed’s extradition from the United States. In accordance with its treaty obligations to Iraq, the United States filed a complaint in Phoenix seeking a warrant for Ahmed’s arrest based on the extradition request.

The $460,560.26 the Dallas District Attorney’s Office received was part of nearly $9 million seized by HSI and the IRS during the investigation of a criminal organization led by Frank Cacopardo.

Ubaldo Soto-Diaz, an illegal alien from Mexico, but residing in Portersville, California, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, SAC of ICE’s HSI Seattle Debra Parker and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.

Darnell Deshawn Stennis, 28, will be arraigned one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion, and two counts of transporting individuals to engage in prostitution, before U.S. Magistrate Becky R Thorson in St. Paul on Feb. 6. 

Jack Eugene Knight, 54, of Valley, Nebraska, was sentenced on two counts of receiving child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography before U.S. District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr.  Knight was convicted of the offenses following a four-day jury trial in October 2019.

Operation Silent Predator was an undercover operation targeting the demand for child sex crimes and human trafficking. Throughout the operational period, officers and undercover detectives placed ads on websites and apps which are commonly sought out by suspects seeking illegal sex acts with children. 26 suspects were identified for soliciting and/or brokering deals for various sex acts and were subsequently arrested.

The sentencing came as a result of an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami office and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. U.S. District Kathleen M. Williams prosecuted the case against Tomas Vale Valdivia, 45.

On Wednesday, ICE ERO took custody of Salvadoran national Celio Alexander Serrano Trejo, 33, after his arrest by the Prince William County, Va., Police Department for possession of controlled substances. Serrano is the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice and is wanted in his home country for his participation in MS-13.

The seizures were part of Operation Team Player, an ongoing effort developed by the HSI-led Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Center to target the illegal importation and distribution of counterfeit sports merchandise, and were revealed in Miami, Florida, at a joint press conference with the National Football League (NFL), HSI, CBP and the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD).

Joel Sanchez-Guzman, 46, pleaded guilty to the charges, June 4, 2019. He was also ordered to forfeit $1,300.

According to court records, from approximately February 2017 through January 2019, the defendants, a group of foreign citizens, conspired with each other and others to fraudulently facilitate hundreds of foreign nationals in illegally remaining and working in the United States by actively recruiting them to enroll into a metro Detroit private university that, unbeknownst to the conspirators, was operated by HSI special agents as part of an undercover operation.

Simeao Marcos De Oliveira-Neto was removed from the U.S. Jan. 29, and transferred to Brazilian authorities. He is currently wanted by Brazilian authorities on charges of attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

Mary Ann Lara, 21, and Melissa Janet Lara, 24, both from San Antonio, were sentenced Jan. 29, by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses to 24 years in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Both sisters were found guilty July 17, 2019, after a jury trial.

Pedro Angel Garcia, 26, from Brownsville, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Rolando Olvera to 78 months for distribution of child pornography. Garcia was also sentenced to 78 months for receipt and possession of child pornography.