News Releases and Statements

Damian Hesari Mansur Jasso, 26, was sentenced Oct. 27 by U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana to 135 months in federal prison. Jasso pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 10. He is expected to face deportation proceedings after he’s released from prison.

Robert Ruben Ornelas, 63, of Santa Ana, was taken into federal custody Friday afternoon after being named in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

HSI special agents arrested Thomas J. Carey, 36, in June 2009, after special agents obtained a search warrant for his residence based upon a lead from the Swiss National Police and Interpol.

Officials are warning consumers not to buy contact lenses from such places as Halloween or novelty shops, salons, beauty supply stores, or online if the site doesn’t require a prescription. Although many places illegally sell decorative contact lenses to consumers without valid prescriptions for as little as $20, these vendors are not authorized distributors of contact lenses, which by law require a prescription.

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade remanded Meliton Torres, 32, of Lancaster, Texas, who had been on bond, into custody.

This investigation is a cooperative effort by the Russell County (Montana) Drug Task Force which includes the following law enforcement agencies: Great Falls Police Department; Cascade County (Montana) Sheriff's Office; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol; the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation; and U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Vinh Xuan Ngo, aka Houng Van Tran, 36, and Norinh Inthonepradith, aka Chau Ngo, 38, are each charged in a 15-count federal indictment with bank fraud, conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and access-device fraud.

Defendants Fong, Chun, Mu, Lee, Hartig, Chuong, and Jaemratanasophin were arrested Thursday and made their initial appearances in federal magistrate court in San Francisco. Jaemratanasophin was detained. The other defendants were released on bonds ranging from $100,000 to $500,000.

Items returned included two Colonial-era Cusco paintings, a funerary vessel from 100-1532 A.D., a Chancay statue from 1200-1450 A.D., a Lambayeque-style vessel from 800-1300 A.D., and Incan artifacts looted from ancient Peruvian graves.

Following a three-week trial in April 2013, a jury convicted Xing Lin, 42, aka "Ding Pa," of engaging in racketeering from 1996 through 2009, murdering two individuals in a Queens nightclub in 2004, operating multiple illegal gambling parlors, and extorting bus company owners.

John Lincoln Hoblit, 58, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey to 120 months in federal prison Oct. 22. This prison sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release, including numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet. Hoblit will also be required to again register as a sex offender.

The defendants, Davie Jimmy Mejia-Sensente, a/k/a “Crazy” or “Loco,” 31; Carlos Mejia- Quintanilla, a/k/a “Sleepy” or “Dormido,” 25; and Luis Amilar-Zanas, a/k/a “Trucha,” 35, previously pleaded guilty to killing Alexander Temaj-Castanon. The defendants, who mistook Temaj-Castanon for a rival gang member, fatally shot the victim at a bus stop in Daly City on June 21, 2010.

Domenic “John” Pighetti, 70, of Polk City, Iowa, was sentenced Oct. 22 by U.S. District Court Chief Judge James E. Gritzner to five years in prison for knowingly possessing child pornography.

Reginald Jones, 26, of the Bronx, New York, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. Co-defendant Jeffrey Michael Anderson, 35, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. Co-defendants William Ulysses Robinson, 38, of Grasonville, Maryland and Shawn Christopher Malley, 25, of Crofton, Maryland, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy Monday.

According to the investigation, Bairon Morales-Morales was previously arrested and deported from the United States Nov. 21, 2006. He re-entered the United States illegally and was apprehended in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.

Regardless of grade or location, all ICE employees have access to the improved ICE Training and Education Center (TEC) website that provides interactive opportunities to share personal stories and improve their skills. In addition, the establishment of November as National Career Development month provided ICE employees with a month’s worth of events at ICE headquarters and field offices and development materials.

During Tuesday’s predawn enforcement actions in Brawley, Calipatria and El Centro, authorities arrested 43 individuals and executed 38 search warrants. Those taken into custody include 22 individuals who are named in the federal indictments and 21 suspects who will be charged in state court. In addition to the arrests, the operation resulted in the seizure of narcotics, cash and 14 firearms.

According to the investigation, Dejuan J. Miller, 33, was the subject of an investigation involving a person promoting child pornography over the Internet.

Luis Anibal Salazar Garcia, 51, received 92 months while 10 co-defendants were sentenced last month to sentences ranging from 28 to 64 months imprisonment.

Edwin Estuardo Martinez-Ortega, 18, was deported from Philadelphia Oct. 16 via ICE charter aircraft and transferred to the custody of Guatemalan law enforcement authorities at the Guatemala City International Airport.

The owner of two Chinese restaurants in the Kansas City area pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to employ and harbor illegal alien workers, announced U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, District of Kansas.

Renato De La Cruz, 40, was sentenced to 25 months in prison and ordered to pay $33,164 in restitution to the state and federal governments. In June 2014, De La Cruz was convicted following a three-day jury trial of theft of public money, use of a falsely-obtained social security number, and aggravated identity theft.

Thinh Hung Le, 53 of Toronto, Canada, was found guilty by a jury June 17, 2014 on a variety of drug importation and distribution charges.

ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale today joined U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), Chief of Transition Initiatives, Lieutenant Colonel Kimberly Moros and National Association to Protect Children (PROTECT) Executive Director Grier Weeks at a swearing in ceremony for 13 veterans – many of whom were wounded in the line of duty – as part of the second graduating class of Human Exploitation Rescue Operative Corps, or HERO Corps.