News Releases and Statements

Laron Thomas Zaugg, 50, of Ogden, Utah, reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in December. He admitted that beginning about Aug. 26, 2014, and continuing until about Dec, 5, 2014, he received images and videos of child pornography on his yahoo email account. 

Alberto Randazzo, 40, of Astoria, New York, was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment, eight years of supervised release and sex offender registration for sexual exploitation and receipt of child pornography.

These arrests resulted from a one-year investigation into the inner workings of a Mexican-led drug-trafficking organization that brought drugs into the country through California to Colorado. A federal grand jury in Denver earlier returned an indictment charging 17 defendants with illegal drug-trafficking conduct. The indictment contains a total of 45 counts, including an asset-forfeiture allegation.

Melvy Edgardo Amaya, 32, was transferred to the custody of Salvadoran immigration officials by ERO officers at Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in El Salvador. Amaya is named in an arrest warrant issued July 24, 2009, by a judge in San Salvador.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Boston Public Library repatriated several items of significant cultural value to the government of Italy at a ceremony Wednesday at the Boston Public Library. Included among these items were a 14th century manuscript, an illuminated page from a 15th century manuscript, nearly 200 ancient Roman coins and a book from the personal library of a 14th century Archbishop in Sicily.

When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees heard the Boys and Girls Club of Newark needed help with its new K-8 Literacy Program, they led a multiagency effort to build a library of 2,750 books for the children of New Jersey.

Chad Michael Bennett, 42, from Odessa, Texas, was sentenced April 19 by visiting U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison to 120 months in federal prison.

Ryan Glen Colburn, 23, of Rosenberg, Texas, first came to the attention of law enforcement after he sent images of child pornography to another individual who had been arrested on child pornography charges.

Alex D. Blanco, 45, of Passaic, previously pleaded guilty to one count of soliciting and accepting corrupt payments in connection with City of Passaic business.

Victor Manuel Solorzano, 32, was convicted of the following crimes:  one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; two counts of assaulting a federal officer; and two counts of using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Ignacio Arellano-Banuelos, 36, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  He has been in custody since his arrest in June 2016.  Sentencing is set for July 31. Arellano-Banuelos will be deported after serving his sentence.

Edwin Oland Andrus, from Cleburne, Texas, was convicted after a South Texas jury deliberated for less than two hours after a two-day trial.

The plea agreement recommends that Ignacio Salcido Jr., 38, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, be sentenced to between 120 to 135 months in federal prison, which is to be followed by a period of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Juan Carlos Quintanilla-Pineda, 31, of Mexico, was previously deported from the United States to Mexico in March 2007 and Nov. 2012.

Michael Joseph Armano, 43, of St. Petersburg, was arrested April 27, 2016, by HSI special agents for child enticement, production of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Consistent with the agency’s protocols, the appropriate state health and local law enforcement agencies have been notified about the death, as have the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility.

Richard Charles Saari, 33, of East Helena, was sentenced April 12 to 135 months in federal prison, lifetime supervised release, and a special assessment of $100 by Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell.

Fernando Marte, 28, of Farmingdale, NY, allegedly abused his law enforcement position by escorting drug smugglers through CBP inspection at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in Queens.

Jose Raul Jasso-Moreno, 23, is wanted in Mexico for a warrant issued on Sept. 18, 2015, for murder.

Juan Garica-Rendon, 38, was transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO officers at the Nogales DeConcini Port of Entry.

Tracey Lynn Bautista, 46, from League City, Texas, was sentenced to 112 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr.