News Releases and Statements

Nua Gjokaj was arrested May 5, following the execution of a search warrant at a Detroit business and a Shelby Township residence.

Jake Lindsey Hardin, aka “Cash,” 33, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Hardin was a fugitive for six months before his arrest in November 2016.

On May 4, federal and state agents criminally arrested 15 illegal aliens working under false identities at the LNG facility under construction in Cameron, Louisiana.  Earlier in the week, a federal grand jury in Beaumont returned indictments charging these individuals with identity theft, using social security numbers of actual citizens, and making false claims of U.S. citizenship in order to obtain jobs at the facility over the past three years.

Dina Gonzalez-Marquez, 23, and Emilio Gonzalez-Marquez, 21, were arrested Wednesday for allegedly operating a counterfeit airbag business out of their Albuquerque residence.

Dilbagh Singh, 56, of Ontario, Canada, was taken into custody Wednesday in Flagstaff by investigators with ICE HSI, the FBI, the Flagstaff and Cottonwood police departments, and the METRO Narcotics Task Force.

Christopher Dale Gann, 30, from Dallas, has been in custody since his arrest in October 2016.

Many of these new employees will train at the Maneuver Center of Excellence U.S. Army base in Fort Benning, Georgia, where ICE’s Office of Training and Tactical Programs (OTTP) Firearms and Tactics Division makes its home. The division plans on increasing its number of faculty and students by the hundreds.

Michael Rizzi, 45, of Staten Island, NY, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, ordered to forfeit 58 websites and $120,247 seized from merchant accounts, as well as the Florida vacation home that the he had purchased using proceeds of his prostitution operation. 

Fang Wang, 28, of Queens, New York; Yongguang Wu, 27, Yunzhong Chen, 44, Yaoan He, 32, Zhaofeng Zhang, 22, all of Seattle; and Steven Thompson, 59, of Renton, Wash., are charged with conspiracy to promote prostitution.

According to the indictment, Eric Wayne Grinder, 36, allegedly sexually abused a now 10-year old minor, and produced images of himself and the minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct over the course of three years. In addition, he used electronic communications devices to store and obtain visual depictions of minor victims engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Francisco Escobar-Orellana is wanted in Honduras pursuant to a May 2005 arrest warrant for allegedly hacking two men to death with a machete at a liquor store in 1993. Mr. Escobar subsequently unlawfully entered the United States at an unknown time and place.

Juan Daniel Mares, 40, of Amarillo, pleaded guilty in January 2017 to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  He has been in custody since his arrest Sept. 13, 2016.

Jose Diaz, 42, from Laredo, was sentenced May 2 by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo to 360 months in federal prison; Angel Alexis Diaz, 20 and Julio Osorio, 42, also from Laredo, received respective sentences of 262 months and 292 months. All the sentences will be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. All three pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 8, 2016.

Kurtis Law, 49, who also maintains a residence in Vietnam, was taken into custody by special agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Law is charged with smuggling goods into the U.S., a felony offense that carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. 

Hector Flamenco, 41, a citizen and national of El Salvador, entered the United States in August 1996. He has a felony conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams, or more, of cocaine in the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York and received a sentence of 121 months imprisonment.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa Special Agent Ellen Pierson has a passion for cycling. Fortunately for her, living in Florida provides the perfect conditions to ride year around.

The investigation into Henry Franklin Reddick, 69, began after authorities received a CyberTipline report from The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The CyberTipline provides the public and electronic service providers with the ability to report online instances of child pornography.

In the course of normal targeted enforcement activities, ERO officers apprehended two individuals with past criminal sexual offenses. They were taken into custody and are currently being detained pending removal proceedings.

David Lee Vann, 35, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jason B. Libby and entered a guilty plea to one count of soliciting a minor online.

On April 25, 2017 ERO Newark officers arrested Castro-Pena in Somerville, New Jersey. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Scott C. Foster, 37, made his initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge on April 24, 2017, where his federal indictment was unsealed. Foster allegedly used a fake Facebook account under the name of “Chase Reacher” to harass, threaten, and coerce minor females into making and sending sexually explicit photographs.

William Magana-Contreras, 36, was arrested in Houston on April 26, without incident and placed in ICE custody.