News Releases and Statements

Paul Esteban Estrella Villota, 40, and Magaly Alemania Malagon Sandoya, 42, were arrested Aug. 13 in Orlando, Florida, shortly after the couple arrived in central Florida on vacation. They were extradited Sept. 11 to El Paso to face federal charges for their alleged roles in an undocumented alien smuggling conspiracy.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Deswan Newsome, 19, from Amarillo, admitted that from about March 30 to April 3, he attempted to recruit a 15-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts.

Irineo Ramos, 32, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to 210 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The following four co-defendants also pleaded guilty to that offense and were sentenced to federal prison: Juan Carlos Cruz; Carlos Wences Castaneda; Pablo Ramirez Gallegos; Ismael Perez.

Michael Van Culin, 31, of Monroeville, New Jersey, allegedly obtained sexually explicit photos and videos of four underage girls; three of whom were 14 to 16 years old at the time of the alleged conduct and one who was 17.

In 12 years since the launch, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors and sex trafficking of children.

Hugo Banda, 28, pleaded guilty in March 2015 after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), and Scranton Police Department investigation.

The guilty plea was entered in federal court by a lawyer for Le Grande Tetons, LLC, the company that owned and operated Twin Peaks, a bar and restaurant with two locations in Wichita. As a result of a plea agreement in the case, the court imposed a fine of $50,000.

Juan Figueroa-Martinez, 27, was flown to Guatemala Sept. 16 onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, Figueroa-Martinez was turned over to officials Guatemalan authorities.

Taylor Alan Mills, 29, and Christopher Alan Rue, 39, both of Rockport, Texas, and James Robert Kirkland, 48, of Corpus Christi, were all charged separately by criminal complaint this week for online solicitation of a minor.

Specifically, the jury convicted Casey Rose, 36, of Mesquite, Texas, on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Dujuan Harris, 35, of Providence, was indicted on one count each of sex trafficking a child, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and witness tampering.

The scheme, which operated in all five boroughs of New York City, allegedly involved the importation of at least 100 kilograms of illegal synthetic compounds, an amount sufficient to produce approximately 1, 300 kilograms of dried SSC product, or approximately 260,000 SSC retail packets.

Donald Haring, 60, of Long Branch, was charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

Lucian Serban, 41, arrived in Bucharest, Romania, Sept. 16 under ICE escort and was turned over to Romanian authorities.

Fourteen years after the coordinated terrorist attack on the United States that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 individuals on Sept. 11, 2001, the fact remains that the 9/11 terrorists had entered the United States with visas; five of whom had overstayed their visas, and thus, were in the U.S. illegally.

On Sept. 3, HSI special agents arrested Wilfredo Rivera-Ruiz, 49, of Carolina, for possessing and transporting child pornography. On Sept. 9, Waldemar Cuadrado-Tolentino, 34, of Bayamon, was arrested for downloading child pornography through a file sharing application. One day later HSI special agents arrested Efrain Rivas-Santiago, 67, of Carolina, for transporting and possessing child pornography involving prepubescent minors. Likewise, on Sept. 14, Angel M. Acevedo-Cruzado, 35, of Camuy and Carlos Rafael Ocasio-Febres, 20, of Gurabo, were arrested on child exploitation charges.

Cesar Vega-Muñoz was turned over Sept. 14 to Mexican officials at the top of the Stanton International Bridge Port of Entry.

Juan Garcia-Hernandez, 39, was taken into ICE custody Aug. 27 after his stay of removal expired. He collapsed Monday afternoon outside the Florence Detention Center medical unit following a meeting with members of the facility’s medical staff. Efforts by Florence personnel and emergency responders to revive Garcia were unsuccessful. An autopsy is pending.

David N. Adams, 29, of Branchburg, New Jersey, was charged with one count of online enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Following his court appearance he was detained pending a bail hearing.

Jerry Wang, 34, appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila. Wang was ordered to surrender and begin serving his sentence by Nov. 3. In addition to the prison term, Judge Davila ordered the defendant to forfeit $700,000 in proceeds derived from the scheme.

Landa, Sanchez-Becerra, and Apu were arrested Tuesday morning at their residences. Vargas was taken into custody at his business, Vargas Auto Body in Turlock. Soriano-Villafan was arrested last week in Las Vegas and arraigned in U.S. District Court in Fresno.

The federal judge also ordered Brandon Jones, 34, from Reading, Pennsylvania, five years of supervised release and a $300 special assessment. The fraud gang’s ringleader, Damian Gasdaska, was sentenced in May 2015 to 12 years in prison.

Each year, millions of children fall prey to sexual predators. These young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical and emotional scars. One of the top priorities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is to combat child exploitation, and rescue these innocent victims from further abuse.

The 72-count indictment includes 26 counts for mail fraud, one count for theft of public money and 45 counts for aggravated identity theft. The mail fraud charges relate to payments made through the U.S. mail system to Rocket Learning, Inc., for fraudulent invoices to the Puerto Rico Department of Education.