News Releases and Statements

Edmundo Cardenas, 23, a U.S. permanent resident from Mexico, and Luis Pena-Rios, 45, a Mexican national, both residing in Laredo, were sentenced in separate cases for possessing child pornography.

Homero Gonzalez-Carranza, 30, citizen of Mexico, who resided in Houston, was sentenced to 151 months in prison. Eduardo Luis Pompa, 26, also of Houston, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison. Co-conspirator Lisa Quintanilla, 46, of Premont, Texas, who had previously pleaded guilty for her role in the human smuggling operation, was sentenced Aug. 20 to 34 months in federal prison.

Oleksandr Nikolayevich Druzenko, aka “Alex,” 35, a Jefferson City resident, pleaded guilty Aug. 20 to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. Co-defendant Patricia Anne Ewalt, 63, of El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty to the same charge Aug. 5.

Armia Alber, 29, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to distributing images of child pornography over the Internet.

Jimmy Cantelmo, 26, admitted to conspiring with his brother, Sean Cantelmo, and others to persuade a minor to engage in prostitution from February through August 2014.

Gabriel Espinoza, 40, from San Antonio, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia to 360 months in prison, to be followed by 40 years of supervised release.

IP theft is a problem that goes much deeper than buyers purchasing fake name-brand purses, shoes or football jerseys at a discount. This alone harms the U.S. economy and robs American workers of jobs. But profits from “knock-offs” also often support criminal organizations involved in weapons trafficking, drug smuggling and other illegal activities.

Such was the crime HSI special agents discovered in February 2013 at the home of Jeff Clouse, 45 of Conyers, Georgia, who had hundreds of child pornography and videos on his computer, including live streamed video of a woman from the Philippines performing sexual acts on her minor daughters, ages six and eight, and taking direction from Clouse.

All 61 individuals arrested have been convicted of crimes in the United States and fall within ICE enforcement priorities. Of those arrested, 21 have felony convictions and 14 have aggravated felony convictions.

Fabricio Abelardo Perez, 43, of Abilene, was sentenced Thursday by Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 156 months in federal prison. Earlier this week, Judge Solis sentenced Daniel Longoria, 49, also of Abilene, to 30 years in federal prison.

Patrick Newman, 33, of Louisville, was previously charged in a criminal complaint and then in a felony information.

Luis Vasquez-Sanchez, 34, living in Grand Prairie, Texas, has been in custody since his arrest in January on a related federal criminal complaint. He will be referred for deportation proceedings after he serves his prison sentence.

According to testimony presented at trial, on the night of July 20, 2014, Jean Roussel Eloi, 30, of Palm Bay, started an online chat session with an 11-year-old girl who lived in Palm Bay. The next day, the girl reported the chats to her mother.

It’s estimated that American industries alone lose about $250 billion annually from these counterfeits. And that lost revenue also means lost American jobs, and lost local and federal taxes that weren’t paid on those goods.

According to the indictment, Eyad Farah, 41, of Barrington, Texas, is part of a network of individuals involved in smuggling firearms from the United States to the Middle East.

Gerardo Garza-Montenegro, 34, from Pharr, Texas, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey to 108 months imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release.

Guadalupe Medellin Jr., from Laredo, was convicted Aug. 18 for his role in attempting to transport illegal aliens into the United States for profit.

Marcelino Ruiz-Reyes, 37, a citizen of Mexico living in Independence, Missouri, was sentenced to 20 years and eight months in federal prison without parole on various charges, including: participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and participating in a money-laundering conspiracy.

John Robert Camp, 24, was sentenced Aug. 18 by Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head to 60 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Jose Fernando Cardenas-Lira, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Hayden Head to 84 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, Judge Head stated that, “children deserve to be provided protection of the law and this sentence is intended to do just that.” Cardenas-Lira pleaded guilty to the charges in May.

The 300th capture was Elmer Francisco Reyes, a 30-year-old Honduran man, wanted on a warrant for aggravated sexual assault by Honduran law enforcement authorities who issued a warrant for his arrest in August 2010.

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending August 14, 2015

Nick S. Annan, who formerly served as the deputy special agent in charge in San Diego., takes over as the new special agent in charge (SAC) of the HSI office in Atlanta. Annan, who supervised more than 250 law enforcement personnel in San Diego, has also held several leadership positions within the agency, including chief of staff for HSI in Washington, D.C., and the deputy attaché in Rome, Italy.

The foreign nationals arrested during this operation all have outstanding removal orders and are subject to repatriation to their countries of origin. Of the 50 known or suspected human rights violators arrested during Operation No Safe Haven II, 10 individuals are also convicted criminal aliens in the U.S. This operation more than doubled the number of known or suspected human rights violators arrested during the first nationwide No Safe Haven operation, which took place in September 2014.

Walter Antonio Larios-Hernandez, 34, a citizen of El Salvador, was arrested on the morning of Aug. 14 after ERO officers located him outside of a residence in Norfolk. Larios-Hernandez was convicted in New Mexico of criminal sexual penetration of a child in 2003 and had separate convictions in Virginia including a conviction for driving under the influence in 2007.