News Releases and Statements

An article in the April edition of GQ magazine highlighted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) outstanding work in the investigation and eventual arrest of Rodney Hyden, who was attempting to smuggle cocaine into the United States from Puerto Rico.

Bernardo Guzman, 27, of Jersey City pleaded guilty to one count of possessing firearms while being a previously convicted felon.

Raul Ernesto Morales-Ramos, 44, was admitted to the hospital Friday after experiencing some unusual bleeding. Subsequent tests indicated Morales appeared to have intestinal cancer requiring inpatient care and possible surgery. Morales, who had been under a physician’s treatment since his admission to the hospital, passed away Monday shortly after 4 a.m.

Erika Jasmine Acosta, 27 and Xochitl Ann Prado, 35, both of Payette, made their initial appearances April 2, in Boise federal court.

Jose Alegria-Garcia, 56, admitted in a January plea agreement to knowingly using the identity of a U.S. citizen to obtain benefits from the state of Alaska.

In addition, Charles Franklin Hudson, Jr., 39, of Jacksonville was ordered to register as a sex offender, and to forfeit his electronic media.

Dilkhayot Kasimov, 26, a citizen of Uzbekistan and three other Brooklyn residents are allegedly part of an ISIL foreign fighter local support network. Kasimov allegedly travelled to John F. Kennedy International Airport on Feb. 25, 2015, to provide cash to a co-defendant shortly before federal agents arrested the co-defendant who was attempting to board a flight to Turkey to join ISIL.

Brian Franklin Howard, 37, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was arrested April 2 at Denver International Airport (DIA) by HSI and the Denver Police Department after he flew to Colorado to have sex with children.

According to court documents, between July 2012 and March 2014 Benjamin Cuadrado, 40, of Lakeland, coerced an infant and a toddler to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing multiple videos of the conduct.

Miguel Echevarria-Zuniga, 52, and Miguel Echevarria-Guizar, 22, both Mexican citizens, pleaded guilty April 3 to manufacturing marijuana in the area of Willacy County, Texas.

Ebrima Krubally, 46, was sentenced to 48 months incarceration and Alieu Jaiteh, 32, was sentenced to 18 months. U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby also ordered both to pay restitution of $1,709,304.81 in connection with the fraud scheme. Jaiteh, a foreign national of Gambia, is also facing deportation as a result of this conviction and other immigration violations.

Eduardo A. Herrera, 54, owner of Best for Less Collision Center in El Paso, was also ordered to forfeit his business property valued at $411,000, and cash seized from four business bank accounts totaling $15,451.05. Herrera’s sentence also included a $1 million money judgment.

Blake Robert Johnston, 41, of Martinez, was originally charged in October 2014 with traveling to another state with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Steven Asir Thomas, 40, was arrested by federal agents after an undercover investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Seattle police uncovered his scheme to traffic drugs and use his Seattle “Ice Nightclub” to launder money earned through his drug operation.

Estacio Da Ponte Talaia was administratively arrested in Detroit Feb. 25. ERO officers working in concert with liaisons in Interpol discovered that Talaia was wanted in Portugal.

Clive L. Small, 80, was convicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in August 2005 of conspiracy to possess machine guns and firearm silencers, and possession of machine guns and firearm silencers.

Olajuwon Davis, 22, and Brandon Orlando Baldwin, 22, both of St. Louis, were each indicted by a federal grand jury on the following charges: one felony count of conspiracy to damage or destroy a building, vehicle and other property by use of an explosive, conspiracy to make false written statements in connection with the purchase of firearms, the transfer of firearms to a felon, and two felony counts of making false written statements in connection with a firearms purchase.

Christini Lynn Brashear, 45, of Rocklin, California, pleaded guilty in November 2014 to an indictment charging one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. She was sentenced to serve two years and must surrender herself to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on May 8, 2015.

Milton Charles Wilson, also known as “Barbwire,” 59, of Kansas City, Missouri, and Kayla Pinkerton, also known as “Foxy,” 19, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, pleaded guilty in separate court appearances to one count each of interstate transportation for prostitution.

Martin Margarito-Casimiro, 28, of Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, was originally charged in February 2015 on the firearms charge and was remanded to custody pending further criminal proceedings. A federal grand jury in McAllen returned the superceding indictment adding the conspiracy and kidnapping allegations April 1.

Otoniel Galindo Vasquez-Lopez, 29, of Louisiana, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Egyptian citizens Malak Neseem Swares Boulos, 43, and Amged Kamel Yonan Tawdraus, 33, the leaders of AMA United Group, an Egyptian procurement agent, entered a guilty plea to violating the Arms Export Control Act. Boulos and Tawdraus admitted to failing to file required export information relating to the international shipment of a landmine and multiple bomb bodies.

Alan Folweiler, 21, admitted his involvement as part of a group distributing alpha-pvp, a synthetic drug commonly known as bath salts during 2011 through 2013.

Representatives from the Honolulu Museum of Art Wednesday transferred seven rare antiquities to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) after an ongoing international smuggling probe by HSI determined the objects had likely been looted from India and brought to the U.S. illegally.