News Releases and Statements

Fidel Perales-Castillo, 43, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, was arrested and charged Feb. 11 with possessing child pornography.

On Feb. 6, HSI special agents arrested Irian Jesus Pagan-Rivera, 18, of Dorado, following an investigation that revealed he used Grindr, a location-based networking smartphone application, to send sexually explicit images of prepubescent minors to another user of the application.

Anwar Hasan, 69, of Oakland, California, acquired oxycodone pills in California then sold them to distributors in four states including Alaska, according to court records. Prosecutors say he then laundered more than $284,000 earned from the drug sales.

Joshua Quick, 25, from Palestine, Texas, pleaded guilty Oct. 14, 2014 to receiving child pornography and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis. Quick was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he’s released from prison.

Julio Lara Trinidad, 28, of Waterbury, pleaded guilty to a tax refund scheme that authorities believes resulted in a loss of more than $7.5 million from the U.S. Treasury.

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending Feb. 6, 2015

According to court documents, Patrick R. Minga, 50, formerly of Cape Coral, used Craiglist to advertise a sex tourism business in Ecuador that could facilitate lodging, transportation, meals and unlimited access to females for a fee.

According to court documents, from Oct. 11, 2012, through Oct. 11, 2013, Michael Glenn Glascock, 39, of Merritt Island, used a three-year-old victim to produce visual depictions of the child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Mohamed Admed Hassan Abdallah Omran, 38, of Egypt, was found guilty of two counts of failure to depart for resisting removal after final deportation orders. The defendant’s trial started Wednesday and ended Thursday with the jury returning the guilty verdict after deliberating for 10 minutes.

Based on HSI and NCMEC information, the Spanish Guardia Civil conducted a two-day law enforcement operation dubbed "Dustman" on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. They executed 47 simultaneous search warrants in 24 Spanish cities, arresting 26 suspected child predators.

GKI Foods LLC of Brighton, has pledged to protect the integrity of their workforce by joining IMAGE. The partnership was marked Friday by an official signing at the company’s headquarters.

Deshawn King, 35, pleaded guilty in January 2014, to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of women by force, fraud and coercion; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of attempted sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. King’s co-defendant, Daniel Blount, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced on July 15, 2014 to 20 years in prison.

Michael Anthony Randall, aka “Divine tha Victorious Mack,” 32, previously from Charlottesville, Virginia, and Galveston, Texas, but mostly recently from Houston, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Superior Court Judge in Mercer County, Timothy P. Lydon sentenced Celalletti Koc, 27, aka Steve, of Hamilton, New Jersey, to five years in state prison, including two and a half years of parole ineligibility. Koc pleaded guilty on Nov. 6, 2014, to distributing child pornography. Koc will be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.

Between January and October 2013, Javier E. Rivas, 35, of San Francisco, furnished multi-ounce quantities of high purity methamphetamine, known as “ice” and “crystal meth,” to a California drug supplier, who, in turn, mailed the drugs to local distributors in the Pensacola area. In September 2014, Rivas pleaded guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with conspiracy.

Hugo Gomez-Barrientos, 46, most recently of Hereford, Texas, pleaded guilty in November 2014 to an indictment charging one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. He has been in custody since his Sept. 25 arrest at his residence after the indictment was returned.

Each of the defendants has been charged in a separate federal complaint, just unsealed, with attempting to entice a child. Each made his initial appearance in federal court Feb. 4 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton E. Averitte.

Lina Sun, 55, and Chenglun Ma, 58, were sentenced Feb. 5 by Judge Thad Heartfield for the racketeering influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) conspiracy. Sun and Ma were sentenced to 18 months and 13 months in federal prison, respectively.

Hundreds of images of child pornography and more than a dozen videos were found in Ronald Rhodes's, 57, home after a December 2014 search warrant. The investigation by HSI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Uniontown Police Department is continuing with additional electronics and documents seized currently under forensic examination.

According to court records, in May 2014 agents with HSI identified a computer that was being used to download suspected child pornography via the internet. A subsequent investigation revealed that the subscriber information for that computer returned to Raymond Freitas, 42, of Hackett.

Ladestro Douglas, aka “Derek Douglas,” 35, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children. Douglas faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in federal prison. Sentencing is set for June 3.

Kuldip “Kelly” Singh Mahal, 47, of Surrey, British Columbia, made his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday. The criminal complaint filed in the case alleges Mahal answered a posting on the Vancouver Craigslist website and began communicating with an undercover HSI special agent posing as 12-year-old girl from northwest Washington.

Carlos Manuel Quirola, aka Carlos Quirola-Ordonez, aka Manny, 58, of New Milford pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to transport stolen firearms.

The 16-count indictment named the following individuals who have been arrested: Raul Gerardo Ruiz-Maldonado, 41, Houston; Maria Remedios Urrutia, 23, Erie; Marco Antonio Melchor, 34, Erie; Dana Scott Ball, 37, Waterford, Pennsylvania; Jorge Daniel Montes-Cervantes, 25, Erie; Jenny Eileen Urrutia, 34, Elkhart, Indiana; Reyna Urrutia, 35, Elkhart; Christina Urrutia Rojas, 29, Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Sammar Aimee Melchor, 33, Erie; Ancelmo Ayala, 40, Elkhart, Indiana; Jose Merced Gomez Murillo, 54, Columbus, Ohio; Oscar Mata Garcia, 26, Forrest City, Arkansas; Safa Gobah, 21, Forrest City, Arkansas; Juan Jose Ramos, 28, Akron, Ohio; Robert Jovaun Harris, 36, Erie; Efrain Ramon Pagan Rosario, 24, Erie; and Nathanael Ortiz Andino, 28, Erie.