News Releases and Statements

Christopher Chad Pool, aka “Cityboy,” 40, will serve 20 years in prison for drug and gun crimes, while Owen Henry Long Jr., aka “Ardmore,” 38, will serve more than 28 years in prison for a drug offense.

Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Daniel Flores-Ventura, aka “Necio,” 26, of Aspen Hill, Maryland, to 360 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Benjamin Gil Aguilera, 57, Jose Ramos-Delgadillo, 32, and Ariane Ramos-Piccone, 33, were each originally charged by criminal complaint.

Emilio Testa, 32, an Australian national and Boulder, Colorado resident, was sentenced Aug. 22 to one year and one day in federal prison for money laundering Bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency otherwise known as digital cash.

Kunal Kalra, 25 – who was also known as “Kumar,” “shecklemayne” and “coinman” – was charged today in a four-count criminal information filed in U.S. District Court and is expected to make his initial court appearance next month.

Jackeline Hortencia Ramirez, 34, of Waco, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Southern District of Texas, to150 months in federal prison.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between May and September 2018, Israel Perez conspired with other persons to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl as part of a drug trafficking organization.

Jordan Monroe, 54, has been detained in federal custody since his arrest by HSI special agents and members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force on May 12, 2016, when, during a court-authorized search of his residence, he was found to be in possession of tens of thousands of images and nearly a thousand videos containing child pornography.

Ziyaya Mtola, 45, who was convicted following a 2018 jury trial of assaulting an officer and destroying government property was turned over to ICE for removal in February 2019, as the agency made final preparations for his repatriation.

Joseph Lavern Harris, 32, of Rigby, Idaho, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court to 300 months in prison, for sexual exploitation of a minor child, Brad Bench of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle field office and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.

In addition to the 160-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm, Central District of Illinois, also ordered that Eric Ingram, 31, of Washington, Illinois, remain on supervised release for eight years following his release from incarceration.

Rami Najm Asad-Ghanem, 53, who was commonly known as Rami Ghanem, a naturalized United States citizen who was living in Egypt at the time of the offenses, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero.

The enforcement operation included the execution of multiple search warrants and the arrests of three prolific, Brazil-based human smugglers on Brazilian charges:  Abdifatah Hussein Ahmed (a Somalian national); Abdessalem Martani (an Algerian national); and Mohsen Khademi Manesh (an Iranian national).

Since mid-July, Guatemala and the United States have implemented a new process to more expeditiously remove aliens without any claims to support remaining in the U.S. This enhanced cooperation results in reduced lengths of stays in DHS custody for Guatemalan citizens, while allowing the U.S. to fulfill its mission to repatriate those illegally present without utilizing resources to house aliens or manage their cases while they await immigration or removal proceedings out of custody.

A federal grand jury sitting in Huntington has returned a six count superseding indictment charging Steven Dale McCallister, 45, and his father, Larry McCallister, 76, a retired Cabell County Deputy Sheriff, with various drug and gun crimes.

The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) is reviewing an annual report on the number of IPR seizures that have raised the total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of the seized goods – had they been genuine – to $1.4 billion.

The tanker, cargo and cash are subject to forfeiture based on violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), bank fraud statute, and money laundering statute, as well as separately the terrorism forfeiture statute.

John Seil Lee, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, who ordered him remanded into federal custody. Judge Anderson – who also ordered Lee to pay more than $552,000 in restitution to his victims, including men who were injured by Lee’s misbranded pills – remarked in court on Lee’s “callousness” and how Lee’s “scheme has literally ruined lives.”

Martin Mejia Ramos, aka Ricardo Morales Rodriguez and Martin Jose Romes-Ramirez, pleaded guilty May 10, 2019, to illegally reentering the United States following an aggravated felony conviction.

Ivette Julissa Ramirez, 18, Jesus Abraham Ramirez, 24, and David Arnaldo Garcia, 25, from Laredo were arrested and charged Aug. 16, 2019, with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States by knowingly making a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm.

Pursuant to an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with participation from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS); the High Commission of India in London in coordination with Indian Customs; and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York (DANY), the limestone carved relief and Navaneetha Krishna Bronze figure from India were repatriated to their home country.  On Aug. 15, the High Commissioner of India in London accepted the return of the artifacts on behalf of India.

Jose Miguel Melendez-Rojas was arrested in February 2019 in Mexico following the joint investigation, and is charged with five co-defendants: two were extradited from Mexico to the United States in October 2018, and three were previously arrested in the United States. He faces an 18-count indictment charging him with sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking of minors, interstate prostitution, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy.