News Releases and Statements

Kwan Yong Choi, 72, of Fresno, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. In addition to the prison term, Choi was also ordered to pay $2.1 million in restitution to 13 victims of his investment fraud scheme here in the U.S.

This three-year investigation was conducted as part of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA) which includes the following agencies: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, Harris County Sheriff's Office, Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Department of State, Texas Department of Public Safety and the Houston Police Department.

Charles Franklin Hudson Jr., 38, of Jacksonville, faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release on each count. He was arrested in Jacksonville Jan. 8, and has been in custody since that time.

On May 6, Anoushirvan Sarraf, 48, of Rockville, Maryland, was convicted of 13 counts related to his involvement in a scheme to illegally import thousands of vials of chemotherapy drugs, injectable cosmetic drugs and devices – none of which were approved by the FDA – into the United States.

Joseph Edgar Brown, of Seattle, pleaded guilty to the charge in May. Prosecutors say it was a tip from Google to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that led investigators to look into email accounts used to distribute child pornography, including images of adults raping infants.

HSI special agents arrested Andy Misael Campos-Rivera, 30, after a referral from the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit led to an investigation that revealed that a person with Campos-Rivera's computer Internet Protocol address logged on to the Internet and shared child pornography on numerous occasions.

Randy Dale Barber, 42, of Tampa, was also ordered to forfeit $413,106, and to pay restitution to Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) in the amount of $37,921.20. He previously pleaded guilty Feb. 28.

If convicted, Renee Gregg, 35, of Bradenton, faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison for the production charge. For the transportation charge, she faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years imprisonment.

Kustoms Products, Inc., owner Harold Ray Bettencourt II, 60, of Coos Bay; his sons, Bo Bettencourt, 34, Nicholas Ryan Bettencourt, 32, and Peter Tracy Bettencourt, 28, of North Bend; and company office manager, Margo Antoinette Densmore, 43, also of Coos Bay, will be sentenced along with the corporation in December for fraudulently obtaining some 750 Department of Defense (DOD) contracts with values in excess of $10 million.

Jose A. Padilla, of Weslaco, a former deputy commander with the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, who served under the leadership of Trevino, pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe, in a separate, but related case. Nine others, including drug trafficker Tomas Reyes Gonzalez, aka "El Gallo," were convicted in relation to the underlying narcotics/money laundering conspiracy. They will all be sentenced Sept. 18 by U.S District Judge Randy Crane.

Jason King, 39, of Brownsburg, Indiana, was sentenced July 16 to 20 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt issued the sentence after King pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography.

The 17-count indictment alleges that the defendants were involved in a large-scale BZP distribution ring run from May 2013 through April 2014. HSI special agents first became aware of the organization in May 2013, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized an industrial pill press imported from China after it was found to be fraudulently labeled for shipment.

Fayez Al-Jabri, 45, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas. In addition to his prison term, Al-Jabri will serve three years of supervised release and must pay $15,066.92 in restitution. On March 21, Al-Jabri pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, to introduce misbranded prescription drugs into interstate commerce, and to import such goods contrary to U.S. law; he also pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in counterfeit goods; and one count of introducing counterfeit drugs into interstate commerce in violation of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act

The indictment was returned under seal May 21 and unsealed in its entirety July 16 after Ceasar Santiago Arroyo, 49, of Puerto Rico, surrendered to agents in Houston. Also charged and previously arrested were the following Houston residents: Mary Louise Flores, 43, Fernando Emmanuel Bustos, 31, Rudy Alexander Martinez, 33, and Israel Arquimides Martinez, 37.

Idelfonso Garcia-Benitez, 21, crashed his vehicle carrying 14 smuggled aliens when he attempted to avoid a traffic stop by Kingsville Police. Seven people were killed and seven injured when he crashed the extended cab truck he was driving.

On July 14, a group of adults with children who recently crossed the border were returned to Central America. As President Obama, the Vice President, and Secretary Johnson have said, our border is not open to illegal migration and we will send recent illegal migrants back.

Pedro "Pete" Benevides, 44, of Astatula, also agreed to forfeit $44,059,565, including several bank accounts holding approximately $40 million in cash, and three exotic sports cars: a 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago; a 2009 Audi R8; and a 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo. Benevides also agreed to pay full restitution to the financial institutions that were the victims of his offense.

A four-count superseding indictment was unsealed Tuesday charging 11 defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States and smuggle chemicals from China, substantive smuggling charges, and a money laundering conspiracy charge. The sealed superseding indictment was filed June 9.

Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall sentenced Babar Ahmad, 40, to 150 months of imprisonment, and Syed Talha Ahsan, 34, to approximately 96 months of imprisonment, time already served.

If convicted, Javier Guerrero Molina, 33, citizen of Mexico, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life in federal prison. Molina was arrested May 30 at the Jacksonville International Airport and has been in custody on related state charges since that time.

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending July 11, 2014

Santiago Sierra-Sanchez was taken to the hospital early Saturday morning after Utah County Jail officials found him unresponsive in the jail's medical unit. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital where he was declared dead by doctors at approximately 4:20 a.m. The official cause of death will be determined by the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner.

Robert Harold Scott Jr., 27, faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment when he is sentenced Nov. 12.

Ronald Charles Waters, 65, of Lake City, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. Waters faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a potential life term of supervision. Waters was arrested Nov. 20, 2013, in Lake City and has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since that time.

Brian Shaw, 23, of Lutherville, was also ordered serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.