News Releases and Statements

Willie Dwayne Mickey, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz, who described the defendant as “every parent’s nightmare.” 

Nicholas Ramon Ramirez, 60, of Madera, was taken into custody at Del Valle Food, located in the 200 block of 9th Street. During a search of the store, HSI special agents recovered a large quantity of misbranded medications and pharmaceuticals, including three bottles of the powerful pain killer Tramadol, a controlled substance which can cause addiction and even death if misused. 

Eric James Alvarez, 29, pleaded guilty in October 2015 to producing child pornography in conjunction with an HSI-led probe that began two years ago.

Christopher George White, 37, of McCormick, South Carolina, who is in custody, is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Jackson Dec. 14. 

Damian N. Delacruz, 23, of Cadillac, Michigan, was charged Sept. 7 with three counts of sexually exploiting a minor and one count of enticing a minor.

Juan Carlos Ortega-Santos, 26, was charged with the following immigration fraud-related counts: two counts of using a false document for purposes of obtaining employment, one count of possessing a counterfeit alien registration card, and one count of possessing a counterfeit Social Security card.

Funso Hassan, 27, of Ibadan, Nigeria and Anthony Shane Jeffers, 44, of Maryville, Tennessee, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison. Ann Louise Franzen, 70, of Kiln, Mississippi; Gary Melvin Barnard, 64, of Palestine, Texas; Michele Gayle Fee, 55, of Stockton, California; Tanya Lynn Thomas, 52, of Turlock, California; and Shawn Ann White, 44, of Manteca, California, were each sentenced to five years in prison.

Milton Berrera-Lopez, 29, a Guatemalan national, was released from local custody Aug. 30, two weeks after being convicted of two counts of indecent exposure and providing false identification to a law enforcement officer, for which he was sentenced to 23 months’ time served, two years’ probation and ordered to have no contact with minors.

Through the new notice, the DHS Secretary suspends certain regulatory requirements in order to allow eligible Syrian F-1 students to obtain employment authorization, work an increased number of hours during the school term, and, if necessary, reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 student status.

Juan C. Rodriguez-Quinones, 34, of Bayamon, was arrested by HSI special agents when TSA officers encountered 11.5 kilograms of cocaine in his luggage. Another passenger, Alexander Negron-Zavala, 25, of San Juan, was arrested for allegedly carrying 5.6 kilograms of cocaine. Both men were bound to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone sentenced Paul Esteban Estrella Villota, 40, of Cuenca, Ecuador, and his wife Magaly Alemania Malagon Sandoya, 42, to six years and five years in federal prison, respectively. Judge Cardone also ordered both defendants each to pay a $5,000 special assessment and be placed on supervised release for three years after they the complete their prison terms.

According to court documents, from January 2009 until April 2014, the Cardona brothers used Real Street Paint and Body Shop and Michael’s residence to sell cocaine and launder drug proceeds. A search of the residences of both brothers resulted in seizing $162,795 in currency, about 160 packages of cocaine ready for distribution and five weapons.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History paleontologist Matt Lamanna played a key role in HSI’s investigation and ultimately identified the fossil as a kind of feathered predatory dinosaur. To highlight this case, the Chinese government loaned the fossil to the Carnegie Museum as a temporary part of their permanent dinosaur exhibit.

Simon William Riley, 21, of Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom, was sentenced on one count of sexually exploiting a minor, two counts of advertising material involving the sexual exploitation of minors, and one count of receiving child pornography.

Cristopher Santiago Sanchez-Becerra, 32, appeared in federal court Tuesday morning to answer to the charges stemming from a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the California Department of Insurance, Fraud Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick R. Delahunty and Henry Z. Carbajal III are prosecuting the case.

Miguel Rangel Arce, 36, and Rogelio Santiago Quiroa-Valdez, 25, were among eight San Juan (New Mexico) County residents charged with federal narcotics trafficking offenses. Their co-defendant, Luis Rangel Arce, 44, also a Mexican national, pleaded guilty plea in this case the previous week.

Juan Peralez, from La Joya, Texas, pleaded guilty Sept. 2 to pointing a laser at CBP helicopter. U.S. District Judge Randy Crane accepted Peralez’s plea and set sentencing for Nov. 17.

In addition, between April and August 2016, 80 defendants charged in drug conspiracy cases related to this one have pleaded guilty.

Benjamin David Romero, 38, and co-defendant Roque Henry Atencio, 42, both of Las Cruces, were arrested Feb. 6 on a criminal complaint charging them with methamphetamine trafficking. According to the complaint, Romero and Atencio sold two bags containing an aggregate of 47.35 grams of pure methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement agents in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, on April 2, 2015.

Syed Vaqar Ashraf, 71, of Lahore, Pakistan, previously pleaded guilty to attempting to procure multiple models of gyroscopes from a U.S. company and illegally ship them to Pakistan so they could be used by the Pakistani military. The devices have a variety of applications, including use in unmanned aircraft and missile delivery systems.

Information provided to federal investigators by detectives with the Mesa Police Department indicated Luis Felix-Hernandez, 28, had obtained a cellphone to continue directing the activities of his drug trafficking organization while incarcerated.

Patrick Lee Jewell, 34, admitted to communicating with an individual on Craigslist via email regarding the exchange of child pornography images in November and December 2013. According to court documents, HSI special agents executed search warrants at Jewell’s residence in February 2014.

Gregory L. Bridges, 38, was residing in Seattle and working as a senior program manager for Amazon.com when he first came to the attention of special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) who suspected him of possessing thousands of images depicting child sexual abuse.