News Releases and Statements

Darren Eugene Schaefer, 36, of Marionville, Missouri, pleaded guilty to using the Internet and a cellphone to attempt to entice a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity.

According to court documents, Aaron Bicknell, 28, of Zephyrhills, used an Internet file sharing program to download child pornography. After a search warrant was executed at his residence, he was found to be in possession of more than 3,500 images depicting child pornography, including more than 150 images depicting sadomasochistic conduct. Bicknell pleaded guilty March 18.

ICE Director Sarah Saldaña thanked attendees for being there, and said that “Human rights abuses occur across the world....The idea that a child can be pulled from his or her home and community and into dire circumstances is abominable. Federal agencies can work together to try to save children and adults who are trafficked around the world.”

Michael S. Golden, 53, of Downsville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert G. James on one count of production of child pornography. He was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

Jose David Alvarenga-Ramos, 31, was previously removed from the United States once before in August 2007. Salvadoran authorities charged Alvarenga with aggravated murder, membership in an illicit group, and incitement in January 2015. He subsequently illegally reentered the United States at an unknown time and was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol March 31 near Carrizo Springs, Texas.

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending June 12, 2015

Higinio Castillo, 25, from Philadelphia, was sentenced today for leading Castillo Drug Smuggling Organization (CDSO). Castillo and the members of the CDSO recruited couriers who swallowed packets of heroin inside their bodies in order to smuggle the drugs into the country.

Tomas Bustamante-Machado, 51, will be deported after he completes his prison sentence. During a routine traffic stop Jan. 16 in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, he was arrested after New Mexico State Police found 1,286 grams, or 2.8 pounds, of heroin in the vehicle he was driving.

Kelly Dan Williams, 62, a special needs instructor at Mansfield (Texas) Independent School District’s (ISD) Mary Orr Intermediate School was arrested Friday on the federal offense.

Rodolfo Casares, 38, from Brownsville, Texas, was sentenced June 12 by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to 300 months in federal prison, which is to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release.

According to documents filed in the case, on Oct. 25, Larry Richie Fields, 45, of Wingate, Texas, who has been in federal custody since his arrest in January, used the Internet to transport two images of child pornography using an online social networking service.

Eduardo Luis Pompa, 26, from Houston, Texas, was convicted following a 45-minute jury deliberation. During the trial, evidence established that Pompa served as a scout for an alien smuggling organization. In that role, he drove ahead or behind vehicles transporting illegal aliens to look for law enforcement.

According to Salvadoran authorities Miguel Orellana-Hernandez, 27, was allegedly involved in the March 7 gang-related killing of Andrés Ernesto Oliva Tejada, prosecuting attorney in the homicide unit of the Salvadoran Attorney General’s Office. Olivia was shot several times and killed by MS-13 gang members while he parked his car.

Akmal Zakirov, 29, a citizen of Uzbekistan is charged along with four Brooklyn, New York residents who were arrested previously for allegedly taking part in an ISIL foreign fighter local support network.

ERO officers handed Darlin Navarro-Turcios over to Honduran authorities June 11 after officers took him into custody near his home May 29 following his release from a Philadelphia jail.

Alexander Brazhnikov Jr., 36, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Moscow, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of conspiracy to smuggle electronics from the United States, and one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

John Terruso, 44, of Marlton, New Jersey, chief of the Audubon Park (New Jersey) Volunteer Fire Company, was arrested Wednesday night on state charges of second-degree distribution of child pornography and third-degree possession of child pornography.

Rafael Santano Asencio Y Asencio, 47, illegally entered the United States around December 2013 near McAllen, Texas.

The HERO Act of 2015 is Title III of S.178, Justice for Victims Trafficking Act of 2015. It amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to operate, within ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a Cyber Crimes Center to provide investigative assistance, training and equipment to support domestic and international investigations by ICE of cyber-related crimes.

Christopher Breejen, 43, who pleaded guilty in November 2014 to one count of criminal copyright infringement, admitted importing counterfeit DVDs and selling them on eBay.

Special Agent Matthew Baechtle, the lead agent in the Chucky Taylor investigation, was working three separate arms trafficking cases while assigned to HSI Washington, D.C., all of which involved American citizens trafficking weapons to Liberia (in violation of the Arms Export Control Act).

Jeff Huang, 61, of Mount Prospect, Illinois, was arrested June 9 and charged with five counts of unauthorized use of a trademark, a class-one felony. He was placed on electronic monitoring during his bond hearing June 10 at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse.

Jeremy Joseph Nelson, 42, of Madison County, previously pleaded guilty in February to producing child pornography between 2012 and 2014, possessing child pornography depicting children under the age of 12, and distributing child pornography.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis sentenced Abilene, Texas, residents Jose Cavazos, 51, to 108 months in federal prison; Travis Kyndall Longoria, 22, to 120 months in federal prison; and David Rodriguez, 25, to 30 months in federal prison. Judge Solis sentenced Brandon Johnson, 35, of Sweetwater, Texas, to 90 months in federal prison June 10.

ERO officers transferred Ner Silverio Prieto to Mexican law enforcement authorities without incident Tuesday at the Stanton Street Bridge Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas.