News Releases and Statements

Iberto Morales, 31, pleaded guilty Jan. 6. According to court documents, in February 2013 Iberto possessed between 300 and 600 images showing minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Many of the images portrayed very young children engaged in sadism, masochism and violence.

Charles Ray Benavidez, a former aviation ordnanceman second class, pleaded guilty in January to knowingly recruiting a 17-year-old female to engage in commercial sex acts in Kings and Tulare counties.

Long Van Nguyen, 48, of University Place, pleaded guilty last September to conspiracy to kill persons in a foreign country and solicitation to commit a crime of violence. Nguyen's plot began to unravel when he was put into contact with someone he believed could help him arrange the Vietnam murders.

Reza Khalilzada, an 18-year-old man who stored a machine gun, gun components, nun chucks, CS gas and a host of other weaponry at his family home, was sentenced to six years in prison Friday.

Thomas Cramer, 41, was sentenced by US District Court Frank P. Geraci, Jr. and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York.

Scott Wade Markle was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake. In 2005, Markle was convicted of the same crime and was required to register as a sex offender.

Richard Zachary Gardner, 23, of Anderson, Ind., was sentenced March 14 to 70 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, Southern District of Indiana.

A total of 48 individuals, including 42 convicted criminal aliens, were taken into custody during a weeklong enforcement operation carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Diego this week.

Thirteen of the defendants were taken into custody during a joint law enforcement operation Wednesday in San Francisco and Daly City.

In 2013, all four Texas offices deported 2,124 sex offenders; 508 were convicted of sex offenses against a minor. In fiscal year 2012, Texas ERO offices deported 2,007 sex offenders, and 2,127 in 2011.

Rafael Cabrera-Mesa, of Reading, Pa., was sentenced March 12 to five years in prison for shipping a Remington Model 760 Gamemaster .30 06 rifle and ammunition in foreign commerce and use of false identification, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

On July 25, 2013, as one of the ICE ERO agents attempting to apprehend Francisco Sosa-Lopez approached him, Alisha Johnson drove her vehicle over the curb and into the agent, striking the agent on the left leg.

As Detroit Tigers fans prepare for the March 31 home opener, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) warned the public Thursday to beware of counterfeit merchandise and tickets.

Gang members allegedly committed murders, attempted murders, stabbings, extortion and witness tampering

The investigation revealed Cubero-Soto made arrangements using his cellular telephone to pick up a minor, identified as Jane Doe, from an area near her middle school to take her to a motel in Cabo Rojo for the purpose of engaging in a commercial sex act.

John S. Longo has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of conspiracy to produce material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor and production, distribution and receipt of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.

Jesus Israel Perez Salgado, 38, was apprehended on a Mexican federal search warrant by PGR FEVIMTRA. HSI special agents in Mexico City obtained information about Salgado and provided it to PGR.

Jose Gutierrez III, 21, was sentenced to 80 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack. Gutierrez will also have to pay a $5,000 fine to a known victim of the child pornography series he possessed.

Randy Charriez-Rolon was arrested by HSI special agents at his place of work in Dorado after a preliminary investigation revealed that he allegedly transported a 9-year-old boy to a park near a school in Toa Alta to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Explorers, their instructors and mentors, parents, HSI San Juan personnel and dignitaries attended a graduation ceremony at the historic Tapia Theater in San Juan March 8.

Richard Castle, 47, a resident of the United Kingdom, has been sentenced to serve 192 months in prison in connection with a trip he made to Ohio from his home in the United Kingdom in order to have sexual relations with a juvenile in June 2011.

The training, taught by instructors from the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, is designed to enhance the ability for law enforcement personnel to respond to and identify potential threats emanating from gang members and their associates who operate throughout the region.

Of the 57 arrested, 54 individuals had prior convictions for crimes including some of the following violations: criminal sexual conduct against a minor, felony assault with a weapon, felony carrying a concealed weapon, larceny, and drug possession. The remaining three were priorities for arrest as egregious immigration violators.

Michael Fleming, 58, of New Castle, Ind., was charged by criminal complaint with one count of perjury and one count of making a materially false statement. He is the former director of the Henry County office of the Indiana Department of Child Services and a member of the New Castle Community School Corporation's school board.

In addition to the 240-month prison sentence, the judge also ordered Peter Abraham Groce, 25, of Converse to serve a lifetime of supervised release. Groce pleaded guilty to the charges Oct. 17.