News Releases and Statements

In pleading guilty, Stephen Roy Walker, 43, admitted he transported 462 digital images and 42 digital videos containing child pornography from Texas to Idaho, and that he possessed the images while living in Idaho. Walker further admitted that 78 of the images containing child pornography, and four of the videos, depicted one of three children living with him at the Old Towne Lodge.

Michael Lindsay, 56, was convicted by a federal jury after a four-day trial. The jury found that Lindsay traveled from San Francisco to the Philippines intending to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. He used instant messaging to communicate with the girl’s mother and arrange meetings with the minor. 

In recent court proceedings, defendants Milton Contreras and Jose Osmin Rubio pleaded guilty to murder of the 19-year-old victim, fellow gang member Sidney Valverde.  In the past month, two additional defendants, Byron Lopez and Oscar Welman Espinoza-Merino, had also pled guilty and admitted their participation in the murder.

Chad Calhoun, 33, of Longview, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury Dec. 10, 2015, for receiving and possessing child pornography.  He was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider Aug. 3.  Upon his release from custody, Calhoun must also serve a term of supervised release of 10 years and will be required to register as a sex offender.

“Drugs and guns are a deadly combination and every seizure makes our community safer. These arrests and indictments demonstrate our relentless pursuit to remove drug traffickers from our streets,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Angel M. Melendez. “The safety of our communities is one of HSI’s top priorities. HSI and our state, federal, and local law enforcement partners pool information and resources to target drug smuggling and related criminal elements.”

The counterfeit merchandise seized included shoes, hats, purses, various clothing items and other luxury accessories.  These items were found to be imitations of name-brand merchandise, such as: Nike Air Jordan, Michael Kors, Timberland, North Face, Polo, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.

Last week, more than 2,600 personnel from the Department of Homeland Security ensured the safety and security of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. They started their work only hours after completing the same task at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Dwight Horton, 51, a resident of Grand Prairie, Texas, appeared in federal court Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renée Harris Toliver and pleaded guilty to a felony Information charging one count of theft of government property. 

Javier Carlos Arteta Franco, 58, residing in Fort Stockton, faces between five and 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receiving and possessing child pornography. By pleading guilty, he admitted that from December 2014 to August 2015, he used a file-sharing program to download to his personal computer videos and images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

One of the murder suspects, Francisco Inestroza-Martinez, 35, is a former Honduran police officer wanted in his native country on a homicide related charge. Inestroza was repatriated to Honduras on board a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s IAO. The second fugitive repatriated Wednesday, Jesus Balderama-Vega, 55, is the subject of a criminal warrant issued in 2006 by authorities in the Mexican state of Sinaloa charging him with the shooting death of a 55-year-old man that occurred the year before.

IMAGE is a voluntary program that allows private industry to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reduce unauthorized employment and the use of fraudulent identity documents. ICE is striving to achieve the highest level of workforce integrity throughout the country by coordinating closely with industry partners.

According to court records, in July 2014, Donnie Ray Schultz, 45, of Del City, Oklahoma, began engaging in sex acts with the then 14-year-old girl, whom he met through a religion class he taught at a Del City church. According to those records, the sex acts occurred between July 2014 and November 2015.

Ramon Aguirre-Ochoa, 45, is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, indecent assault on person less than 13, indecent exposure, and simple assault. He is currently being held at Curran Frommhold Correctional Facility on a $500,000 bail.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) is charging Nestor Luis Reverol Torres, the former general director of Venezuela’s ONA and former commander of Venezuela’s National Guard, and Edylberto Jose Molina Molina, the former sub-director of ONA and currently Venezuela’s military attaché to Germany, for trafficking drugs to the United States while they served for the ONA.

Timothy J. Martin, 32, from Taos, New Mexico, was released to a halfway house pending trial and will be under pretrial supervision and other conditions of release.

Oscar Figueroa, 47, of Carrollton, Texas, was convicted by a federal jury April 1 for attempting to coerce and entice minors. He was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison Aug. 1 by U.S. District Judge Amos L Mazzant.  Figueroa was also ordered to pay fines and assessments totaling $17,600.  Upon his release from custody, Figueroa will also serve 10 years of supervised release and he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Jeffrey Parkhurst, 59, of Springfield, was sentenced Aug. 1 by U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce, Central District of Illinois, to 132 months in federal prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. Parkhurst was convicted by a federal jury March 31.

Ronald Gerard Boyajian, 55, who previously resided in Menlo Park and has spent time on the Palos Verdes peninsula, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder. The case is the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Los Angeles and HSI's Attaché Offices in Bangkok, Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh, with the assistance of the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Santo Carela, 60, was pronounced dead two days after he had been taken to the hospital, where he was admitted for additional diagnostic tests. Carela’s next of kin was notified of his death by the attending physician.

The audience of over 450 attendees comprised representatives from financial sector compliance, anti-money laundering and financial intelligence investigators, and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

During the day’s enforcement actions, investigators seized approximately 600 pounds of synthetic cannabinoids and dismantled a possible spice lab. Investigators also seized several luxury vehicles and over $350,000 in cash.

According to the first indictment, between Feb. 1 and July 21, Christopher Martinez Sr., 45; Randy Seja, 24; Felix Gago, 40; and Christopher Martinez Jr., 23, conspired to possess and distribute methamphetamine. In the second indictment, Gilberto Zarate, 34; Jorge Calestino Alvarez-Arias, 27; Marco Mosqueda, 27; Frances Reyna, 55; Gabriel Galvan, 27; Rafael Delatorre, 32; Jose Delatorre, 22; Alfonso Esparza, 38; and Gabriel Esparza, 37, are charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and distribution of  methamphetamine. Zarate, along with Alfonso Esparza and Gabriel Esparza, are also charged with being felons in possession of firearms. The third indictment adds defendant Cecilio Alaniz, 26, and Christopher Valdez, 35, to an indictment that originally charged Jesse Mendoza, 36, and Roxana Dodier, 23.