News Releases and Statements
News Releases and Statements
A group of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees had the distinct honor of meeting with and thanking heroes from the United States Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment (WWR) at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, April 16.
The United States attracts and welcomes foreign citizens to our nation's higher educational institutions. In fact, according to a recent Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) report, there were more than 1.1 million nonimmigrant students studying in the United States as of February 2015; the majority of whom were from China, India and South Korea.
Graciella Balderrama-Acevedo, 53, was sentenced to 12 months and a day in federal prison and $90,000 in restitution to Samsung. Balderrama is a Mexican citizen and is expected to face deportation proceedings following her release from prison.
Carlos Victor Galdamez Torres, 30, pleaded guilty Jan. 15 to illegally re-entering the United States after being convicted of an aggravated felony.
According to court documents, from at least December 2012 through his arrest May 1, 2014, Melvin Barber Bridgers III, 34, of Tarpon Springs, formerly of Greenville, North Carolina, used multiple Facebook accounts to pose as a young teenage girl and befriend other girls between the ages of 10 and 16 years old.
Ryan Harding, 29, of Woodstock, was sentenced April. 17, by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 144 months of imprisonment, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for receiving and possessing child pornography.
Gustavo Villegas, 28, of Laredo, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janis Graham to 27 months in prison, which is to be followed by two years of supervised release. Villegas was arrested Oct. 23, 2014.
Eric Lee Bederson, 37, formerly an inmate at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, was sentenced to 42 years in federal prison, without parole, on two child pornography convictions.
Jose Alfredo Leyja-Celestino, 33, was handed over to Mexican law enforcement officials at El Paso's Stanton Street Bridge Port of Entry. Leyja-Celestino is wanted for the 2014 attempted murder of Marcos Feliciano Ramirez Chon, who was beaten, stabbed and shot. Leyja-Celestino is one of three men Mexican authorities identified as suspects in the case.
As part of the sentencing, Jason Floarea also forfeited his interest in approximately $1,000,000 in seized funds and assets and was ordered to pay a $120,000 forfeiture money judgment. In addition, Floarea will be under the supervision of the court for a period of 24 months following his release.
In a collaborative effort between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the two agencies hosted Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement training in Kuwait the week of March 22. It was the first training of its kind held in Kuwait in 10 years.
HSI San Juan Assistant Special Agent in Charge Raymond Villanueva was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Special Agent Alek Pacheco and Public Affairs Officer Ivan L. Ortiz-Delgado were both promoted to the rank of captain.
Oscar Antonio Pena-Sanchez, 37, of Tampico, Mexico, was encountered by an Ohio State Patrol trooper April 6. During the encounter Pena-Sanchez presented the trooper with a fraudulent New Jersey driver's license, issued in another person's name.
Carlos Gomar-Castro, 26, and Willfredys Castro-Villalobos, 33, were flown to El Salvador April 15 onboard a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, both were turned over to officials from El Salvador’s Policia Nacional Civil (PNC).
Fiordaliza Gomez Heredia, 40, was turned over to Spanish law enforcement upon her arrival at Madrid-Barajas airport in Madrid, Spain. According to Spanish police authorities, a drug trafficking investigation that began in 2006 led to the execution of a search warrant May 5, 2007, at Heredia’s home.
Harminder Phagura, 35, an officer with the Yuba City Police Department, and Gursharan Phagura, 39, of Yuba City and Roseville, were arrested based on a criminal complaint accusing them of conspiring to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute; and use of a communication facility in narcotics trafficking activity.
Other members of the VGT represented on the board of management include: Australian Federal Police, National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (United Kingdom), Columbian National Police, Dutch National Police, Europol, Indonesian National Police, Interpol, Italian Postal and Communication Police Service, Korean National Police Agency, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, New Zealand Police and the Cybercrime Coordination Unit Switzerland.
Robert Lawrence Noll, 40, of Brownwood, Texas, who is on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing will be set at a later date.
Saud Saleh, 30, was charged by indictment, with wire fraud and associated charges against the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the federal food stamp program. The defendant owned and operated Twinz Meat Market, at 3083 Kensington Ave. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Pedro "Pete" Benevides, 45, of Astatula, forfeited property including several bank accounts containing approximately $40 million in cash and two exotic sports cars: a 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago and a 2009 Audi R8.
On April 7 and 8, a combined task force of federal, state and local law enforcement arrested 18 illegal aliens working under false identities at various oil refineries, industrial plants and shipyards in the Texas counties of Jefferson, Galveston and Liberty.
Otoniel Galindo Vasquez-Lopez, 29, of Bossier City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow in Phoenix to more than 14 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for his role as the leader of an Arizona-based alien smuggling organization that illegally moved hundreds of aliens across the southern border into Arizona and then transferred them throughout the Southeast to multiple cities in Tennessee.
Andres Villarreal-Parades, 28, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, was set to begin trial Thursday, but he opted to plead guilty to the charges Wednesday.
Jose Heriberto Lopez, 42, Jose Arenas-Lucero, 51, and Miguel Angel Medina-Ortiz, 37, pleaded guilty in September, October and November 2014, respectively. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore considered relevant conduct for an incident in Oklahoma which involved the death of an alien being transported by Lopez.
Ernesto Felix, of Sinaloa, Mexico, is one of 29 individuals who were charged in February 2014 with drug trafficking offenses following a multi-agency investigation targeting drug trafficking in northwestern New Mexico. The investigation culminated Feb. 26, 2014 when 26 of the defendants were arrested during a law enforcement operation led by HSI and the HIDTA Region II Narcotics Task Force.
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