News Releases and Statements

Ivan Cabrera, 23, and Michael Ayala, 27, both of Edinburg, and Maria Isabel Rivera-Castillo, 52, of Mexico, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane. Judge Crane sentenced Cabrera to 63 months' imprisonment; Rivera and Ayala received respective sentences of 52 and 33 months.

Antonio M. Taylor, 30, of Kansas City, was found guilty of multiple charges contained in an Aug. 8, 2012 federal indictment.

HSI special agents arrested Larry Pearson, 59, of Detroit, without incident early Monday outside an abandoned home on Detroit's northwest side. He was turned over to Grosse Pointe Farms Police and arraigned in federal court Wednesday on identity theft charges.

Gasim Manafov received $210,000 assisting about 70 individuals fraudulently apply for asylum.

Kirk A. Simmons, 59, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release following his prison sentence of at least five years to life. Simmons also will be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school.

Toby Lujan, 28, of Dallas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis. Lujan was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons April 2. Lujan pleaded guilty in September 2012 to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

"ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) partnered with the National Police of Colombia (CNP) Feb. 25 to arrest 24 Colombian nationals who were members of the transnational criminal organization known as the ""Urabenos."""

HSI special agents arrested Carlos Suarez at a local department store in the municipality of Carolina after a preliminary investigation revealed he produced and attempted to produce sexually explicit images of an 11-year-old girl by secretly recording the minor with his cellular telephone.

Twenty individuals, including ringleaders, straw buyers, sellers, real estate agents and an accountant were arrested Tuesday in 10 different municipalities of Puerto Rico for bank fraud and money laundering.

David Wayne Sweet, Jr. took 24 sexually explicit pictures of a prepubescent girl while she slept as well as while nude in a bathtub. Sweet was arrested on Sept. 27, and admitted that he inappropriately touched the victim while she was sleeping and took the photos.

Using the screen name "mikecoach73," Michael J. Barndt engaged in a series of explicit online chat conversations with an undercover special agent. Special agents seized his smartphone after his arrest and upon forensic review, found it to contain approximately 15,000 images of teenage females who were suggestively dressed or nude.

Robert Carey Evans, 58, of Waukesha, Wis., was sentenced to 10 years in prison on 14 counts of possessing materials containing child pornography.

Brett Aaron McFarland was indicted Sept. 10, 2013 for conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.

Peter Witkiewicz, the owner of Comfort Keepers, was presented a certificate of completion Thursday, indicating his company is a certified IMAGE partner.

Elliot R. Duke, 30, of Leesville, who was an active duty soldier assigned to Fort Polk at the time of his arrest, previously pleaded guilty Jan. 23 to receiving child pornography. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi sentenced Duke to a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison.

According to HSI special agents, Jason Daniel Gandy, 37, frequently traveled to the Texas cities of Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio; he also traveled overseas to the Philippines and Bali, Indonesia.

According to documents filed in the case, Jose Fidencio Perez, 40, of Seagraves, Texas, used a file-sharing program on his computer to download child pornography. During his search, Perez downloaded and viewed numerous videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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.

Ioan Leusca, 30, aka Ionel Spinu, and Dezso Gyapias, 29, aka Valentin Folea, were each sentenced to 57 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge William J. Martini. In addition to prison time, both men were ordered to serve two years supervised release and to pay $985,000 in restitution.

Sheldon Kennedy, 26, was arrested this week in Miami for his role in selling illegal drugs, false identifications, counterfeit currency, guns and other contraband over the Internet.

Benjaman Shelabarger, 36, of Dallas Center, Iowa, was sentenced to 210 months in prison on child pornography conviction. Shelabarger was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Aaron Bruno Finn, 57, was arrested in 2012 by Canadian customs officials at the Beaver Creek, Yukon, border crossing on the Alaska Highway for importation of child pornography. According to court documents, Finn transported more than 600 images of child pornography on two laptop computers from the U.S. into Canada.

Carl Skow, a Georgia man who attempted to purchase a 14-year-old girl from an undercover federal agent, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for enticing a child to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Juan Gonzalez, 60, of Palm Bay, must also serve 10 years of supervised release following his prison term.

Pauline Lopez Grijalva, 53, the alleged leader of the smuggling ring, and 11 others were arrested in January by the Native American Targeted Investigations of Violent Enterprises.