News Releases and Statements

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Juan announced year-end statistics Monday showing record increases in narcotics, weapons and counterfeit goods seizures, as well as double-digit percentage increases in criminal and administrative arrests, compared to fiscal year 2012.

Aaron N. Debarardnis, 26, of Lower Township, was arrested July 26, 2012, and pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to using a file-sharing network to distribute images and videos of child pornography online from his home computer.

Allen Trent Carter, 53, of McCammon, Idaho, was identified during the course of an investigation into his son, Bradley Vaine, 27, of Fresno. That probe revealed McCammon had exchanged numerous child pornography images and engaged in Facebook chat sessions with his son discussing the sexual abuse of children.

Noe Gonzalez, 29, pleaded guilty last August. His co-conspirator, Vanessa Campos, 25, also of Caldwell, was sentenced to 47 months in prison. She pleaded guilty to the same charge last October.

Robbie Newby, from Grapeland, Texas, pleaded guilty Jan. 9 before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love to sexually exploiting a child.

Alvin Westley, 49, from Palestine, Texas, pleaded guilty Jan. 9 before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love to possessing child pornography.

Mohammad Jamal Rashid, 45, a U.S. permanent resident originally from Pakistan and residing in Houston, admitted he conspired to illegally import counterfeit and misbranded Viagra and Cialis pharmaceutical drugs to his home under a false name and with a false declaration waybill.

Alberto Bautista-Sanchez, 30, was arrested Nov. 30 by the Pennsylvania State Police for driving under the influence. On Dec. 3, while in custody at the Franklin County Jail in Chambersburg, ERO officers served him with a notice to reinstate a prior order or removal.

Jose Luis Peralta-Ferreira, 29, was arrested by Philadelphia police for possession of marijuana and turned over to ICE custody Nov. 25.

"After Rapinder ""Rob"" Singh Sidhu quit the RCMP in 2003 disgruntled about his treatment, he went on to assist a criminal conspiracy allied with the Hells Angels to import large shipments of cocaine into Canada and to smuggle B.C. Bud marijuana into the U.S."

Christopher Peter Swan, 30, is charged with possessing, receiving and distributing child pornography. Swan told HSI special agents he downloaded and possesses a large amount of child pornography. He stated he prefers child pornography that involves 10-year-old children and older.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department seized thousands of counterfeit items worth a total manufacturer's suggested retail price of more than $1.8 million from Legends Clothing Store on Bell Road Tuesday.

Paul Pittman, 45, was sentenced Jan. 8 by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzalez Ramos to 84 months in prison to be followed by a 15-year term of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court considered the need to protect the public and deter future criminal behavior by Pittman and others.

Kordell Nesbitt, a former immigration enforcement agent with ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO), pleaded guilty Wednesday to his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana. From May 2013 through July 2013, Nesbitt arranged for the shipment of cocaine and marijuana into the New York City-area.

Dustin Howard Muscha, 33, of Moorhead, Minn., was sentenced Jan. 8 by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to 360 months in federal prison for sexually exploiting minors, and producing and possessing child pornography.

On Sept. 26, jury found Mark Mason Alexander, aka Musa Mahmood Ahmed, 53, of Roswell, guilty of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Sergio Saenz-Amaya and his co-defendant, Manuel Adrian Aldarette, also a Mexican national illegally in the United States, were arrested on a criminal complaint in October 2012 after they engaged in a drug trafficking transaction with an HSI confidential informant.

The investigation into the website Maksym Shynkarenko operated has led to convictions in 47 states of 600 American child pornographers.

Pedro Felipe Rosario, a Dominican national convicted of murder in his native country, was deported Tuesday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

The owner of a Dayton roofing company, Gregory J. Oldiges, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to bring illegal aliens to work for his roofing company, and to conspiring to commit wire fraud by sending fraudulent invoices to insurance companies for work by his company.

The four principal defendants allegedly directed hundreds of SDDI applicants, including many retirees of the New York Police and Fire Departments, to lie about their psychiatric conditions in order to obtain benefits to which they were not entitled.

Jordan Schoo, 34, who resided in both Nampa and Grangeville, admitted that he knowingly possessed counterfeit Idaho driver's licenses, which he used to purchase goods on credit.

According to the investigation, Luis Ariel Capellan Maldonado, 27, regularly procured multi-kilogram quantities of heroin from the Dominican Republic and worked with several individuals to distribute drugs in southeastern Connecticut.

Law enforcement intercepted Gerrett Conover of Woolwich Township, at the U.S. border Sept. 16, 2012, coming from Canada into New York. He was in possession of a laptop containing images of sexually exploited children.

Larry Michael Bollinger was a former minister who performed missionary work in Haiti. From in or about August 2009 to October 2009, Bollinger sexually molested four Haitian females between the ages of 11 and 16.