News Releases and Statements

Reynaldo Estrada, 50, of Brookhaven, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit identity theft, aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting the use of a false social security number.

Alan Gregory Ender, 58, was also ordered to serve a life term of supervised release and to comply with Sex Offender Registration and Notification by Chief U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway. He pleaded guilty to the charges Nov. 14, 2013.

David Michael Wilson, 31, of Delano, pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer K. Thurston to one count of receiving or distributing images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Eduardo Aponte, 33, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 180 months in prison following his conviction. His girlfriend, Kathleen Diaz, 28, also of Philadelphia, was sentenced to two years probation.

James J. Jenkins Jr., 20, of Liberty, was wanted for selling heroin to an undercover deputy sheriff when SCSO deputies and HSI agents identified him as a passenger in a car that was stopped in Liberty. At the time of his arrest, Jenkins had 173 bags of heroin stuffed in his underwear.

Slomp was charged with distributing worldwide about 104 kilograms (229 pounds) of an illegal drug known as MDMA; 566,000 Ecstasy pills containing MDMA; four kilograms (nine pounds) of cocaine; three kilograms (seven pounds) of Benzodiazepine; and substantial quantities of amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), and marijuana.

More than six decades after being removed during the Korean War, nine royal seals of the Korean Empire and Joseon Dynasty were repatriated Friday to Seoul, South Korea, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), coinciding with U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to that nation.

Albert Buck Hibbert, 43, was arrested April 3 after he gave consent to HSI special agents to search his home and personal computers. A forensic preview of his laptop computer revealed images of children between 3 and 10 years old being sexually exploited.

George Tsarik, 30, a citizen of Belarus who was residing in West Palm Beach, Fla., and convicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for conspiracy to illegally export defense articles, was removed.

The money was seized in February 2014 from the sale of a house located in Newport Beach, Calif., which President Chun's son, Chun Jae Yong, had purchased in 2005 with proceeds allegedly traceable to his father's corruption.

Hector Manuel Carreon, 47, was convicted earlier this year in state court of 16 counts of conducting lewd acts with children under the age of 14. The case was prosecuted by the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

Lance Robert Fries, 43, was sentenced Wednesday to 297 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps. In addition to the prison term, Fries will be subject to lifetime supervised release with stringent conditions, including registration as a sex offender.

The investigation into Koyode Lawrence, aka 'Papa,' 45, of Lagos, Nigeria began in February 2001 following the arrests of two men at Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) who attempted to internally smuggle 1,498 grams of heroin into the United States from Nigeria.

Nunez had been involved in an organization that had crossed marijuana into the United States from Mexico.

Hermes Franca De Barros, aka Hermes Franca Barros, 39, formerly of Clackamas County, Ore., was removed by commercial airliner from the U.S. under ERO officer escort.

On four separate indictments, Ezequiel Bayon-Santos, Katherine Agostini-Ruiz, Rafael Torres-Vicente and Eileen Martinez-Esteves were charged with trafficking counterfeit Freshlook Colorblends contact lenses. They face a collective forfeiture allegation of 226 boxes of counterfeit contact lenses.

Fredy Arbito, 31, of Hightstown, N.J., previously pleaded guilty to the charge in U.S. District Court. As part of his guilty plea, Arbito admitted that from July 2011 to January 2013 he made contact with a young girl over a video chat messaging system and coerced her to engage in sexually explicit conduct via webcam.

Erik E. Cryderman, 47, of Bismarck, was sentenced to the mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison on a charge of possessing material involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Cryderman had previously pleaded guilty to the charge Jan. 21.

Marcelo Alves-Ferreira, 39, is charged with homicide in a warrant issued in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The warrant alleges Alves was responsible for the May 22, 2005, murder of Jhonatan Alves Braganca in Sao Jose de Safira.

IPR Center, HSI, CBP and Mexican Customs received awards for Operation Team Player, which targeted the sale of counterfeit sports products and tickets. The operation netted more than $37 million in fake sports merchandise, 70 arrests and 163 website seizures.

Indicted were Ahmad Feras Diri, 39, of London; Harold Rinko, 72, of Hallstead, Susquehanna County, Pa., and Moawea Deri, 36, a Syrian citizen, and a firm with which Ahmad Feras Diri and Moawea Deri were associated.

Aliaksandr Stashynski, 30, who served a 9-month federal prison sentence, was removed from the United States and turned over to Belarusian authorities at the Minsk International Airport.

Nsane Phanuel Ligate, 42, of Ashburn, Va., a real estate agent, and Cane Mwihava, 43, of Bowie, Md., pleaded guilty to providing false information about the properties' buyer and renovations.

Zahid Yousaf, 45, pleaded guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization in federal court in September 2011.

William Zimmerman was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release following his prison sentence. He also will be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.