News Releases and Statements

Daniel Perry, a 17-year-old victim of an online blackmail attempt, died after jumping off the Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh, Scotland, in July 2013.

The arrests came after a two-year investigation by HSI Bogota special agents and the Colombian Attorney General's Technical Investigative Corps (CTI) Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU). The investigation found that the visa fraud scheme was orchestrated by a Colombian national identified as Erno Braulio Bula-Bula. Bula-Bula claimed that he could acquire and purchase U.S. visas for 8 million Colombian pesos (approximately $4,000 USD) through a contact at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota. The contact was later determined to be fictitious, and no Embassy employees were found to be involved in the criminal acts.

Mohammad Jamal Rashid, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Hittner to 27 months in federal prison for both counts of the conviction. Rashid pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to illegally importing and trafficking in counterfeit and misbranded drugs, and receiving and delivering misbranded drugs. As a non-U.S. citizen, he is expected to face deportation proceedings after he's released from prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa sentenced Jose Luis Garcia-Saldivar, 29, to 121 months imprisonment. Garcia-Saldivar pleaded guilty the charges Sept. 4, 2012. He admitted he intended to have sex with a minor for money. Garcia-Saldivar asked the victim to send him photographs from her cell phone of herself which included sexually explicit conduct. Garcia-Saldivar's sentence was enhanced because the minor victim was only 14 years of age at the time. Garcia-Saldivar will also be required to register as a sex offender.

The Surenos, also known as Sur 13, is a transnational criminal street gang that originated in Southern California with hundreds of cliques around the United States. The Surenos and their affiliates pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia and the number '13' is their symbol signifying 'M' in the alphabet for Mexican Mafia.

Five men were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on multiple felony charges in connection with an alleged scheme to produce and distribute counterfeit Social Security and Permanent Resident Alien cards to aliens unlawfully present in the United States across three Alabama counties.

Tong Yang, 45, of Stella, Missouri, pleaded guilty to the charge contained in a Jan. 21 federal indictment.

The indictment of Han Woon Liew, 45, from Sugar Land, Texas, returned under seal April 16, was unsealed May 1 upon his arrest. He is expected to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson May 2.

Jose Francisco Bonite-Sibri, aka Jose Sibri aka Alex Sibri aka Carlos Padilla, 46, of Philadelphia, was charged May 1 with illegal reentry after deportation. If convicted, Bonite-Sibri faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

Carlo Colapelle, an influential member of the Italian mafia in Montreal and alleged leader of the operation, was among those arrested. All of the arrests occurred in greater Montreal.

Juan Adalberto Serpa-Flores, 36, was previously removed from the United States in 2009. In May 2010 the National Civil Police of El Salvador obtained an arrest warrant charging Serpa with aggravated homicide.

Yi Hui Chen, 47, a merchant in downtown Laredo, pleaded guilty to the counterfeiting charges May 16, 2013. U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo accepted Chen's guilty plea and sentenced him to 18 months in federal prison.

The event included a panel to discuss public-private partnerships in IP theft enforcement and featured discussions with IPR Center Director Lev Kubiak, National Football League Senior Vice President and Chief Litigation Officer Anastasia Danias, and Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General Miriam Vogel.

The indictment, handed down April 22 by a federal grand jury and unsealed Tuesday, charges 41 alleged members of a drug trafficking organization with conspiracy to knowingly and intentionally possess with the intent to distribute cocaine base (crack), cocaine and marijuana, all for significant financial gain and profit.

Robbie Newby, 46, of Grapeland, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury April 17, 2013; he pleaded guilty Jan. 9, 2014 to sexually exploiting children. Newby was sentenced April 23 to 30 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis.

Special agents with HSI and members of the U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST) arrested Altin Hasani, 40, aka Altin Hasni, at a Columbus residence without incident.

John Jaramillo, 44, of Albuquerque, was arrested April 24 by HSI special agents on a criminal complaint charging him with receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Keith Farnham, 66, of Elgin, Ill., allegedly possessed two videos depicting child pornography on a computer that was seized from his state office in Elgin in March.

Habtom Merhay, 47, was indicted in the District of Columbia in 2012. Merhay has been in the custody of Moroccan authorities pending extradition since his arrest in Marrakech, Morocco, in August 2013.

According to the indictments, each of the defendants had contact, via the Internet, with Minor #1 and enticed Minor #1 to engage in sexual conduct and transmit it over the Internet.

Jorge Luis "Daniel" Mendez, 38, a Dominican national formerly of San Juan, Puerto Rico, was sentenced to 75 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was further ordered to forfeit $422,793 in illegal proceeds by U.S. District Judge Juan M. Pérez-Giménez, District of Puerto Rico.

Before deploying to their respective territories, field representatives completed an eight-week training course in Washington, D.C., where they learned about federal laws and regulations and the school certification process.

Manuel Rendon-Lucas, 19, was sentenced Friday by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack. Judge Jack sentenced the teenager to 200 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

HSI special agents arrested Benerado Mercado-Rivera, of Humacao, immediately after he showed up at Las Catalinas Mall in Caguas where he was supposed to meet what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.