News Releases and Statements

These latest sentences were announced U.S. Attorney by Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas. This investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

German de Jesus Ventura, 35, a citizen of El Salvador and an illegal alien residing in Capitol Heights, Md., was sentenced to 35 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. for conspiring to transport and entice females to travel interstate for prostitution; transporting females for prostitution; enticing females to travel interstate for prostitution; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and possessing a gun in furtherance of sex trafficking.

Michael L. Denight, 59, of Mahomet, Ill., was sentenced Nov. 25 to 180 months in federal prison and further ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release after he completes his prison term.

According to court records, Jose 'Panama' Antonio Haughton, 37, was convicted of second degree robbery, attempted second degree robbery, first degree theft, 7 counts of criminal impersonation, tampering with a witness, 2 counts of second degree theft and third degree theft.

Steven Byington, 69, who was convicted by a jury June 20 of 1 count of receiving child pornography and 1 count of possessing child pornography, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro.

John David Baker used computers and interactive computer services to engage in online conversations with several minor children while he served as a talent judge for a talent competition in Florida. In this role, Baker met minor children who were auditioning for roles in the art and film industries.

Little admitted to buying pieces of generic glasswork and artwork over the Internet, then offering them for sale on eBay, falsely claiming they were authentic Chihuly works.

Ernesto Karam-Garcia, a Mexican national who is wanted for defrauding hundreds of Mexican citizens of more than $150 million, was deported and turned over to Mexican law enforcement authorities Thursday by officers with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

A preliminary analysis of digital electronic storage devices seized during a search warrant revealed explicit videos of Andres Ruiz-Huertas engaging in sexual acts with multiple minors.

Ian H. Ranberg, 47, of Sounderton, was charged with receiving images of child pornography between May 23 and May 29, 2012, and between Aug. 19 and Sept. 19, 2012.

Local law enforcement discovered more than 500,000 images of child pornography and hundreds of videos on multiple computers and external storage devices belonging to Lawrence B. Blevins Jr.

Bridget Veronica Medlock threatened to kill an ICE officer March 21 while the officer was conducting a lawful arrest of an illegal alien passenger in the vehicle she was driving.

During a search warrant, HSI special agents seized a smartphone belonging to John Millmine. A forensics examination of the phone revealed several images and videos of child pornography.

A forensic review of Daniel Acevedo-Mayen's computer and thumb drive revealed he used a peer-to-peer program to download more than 60 videos of children involved in sexually explicit conduct with adults.

A federal jury found two drug traffickers guilty Thursday on two counts of violating the U.S. Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act.

For their commitment to protecting our children from heinous crimes and dangerous child predators, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pittsburgh Special Agents Derek Bassler and James Kilpatrick were recognized with a Western Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Agency Directors (LEAD) award.

The Virtual Global Taskforce's (VGT) board of management applauded announcements made at a U.K. summit this week by government and industry leaders interested in combating online child sexual exploitation.

Jeffrey Monroe Roy responded to a Craigslist posting and attempted to entice what he thought was a 13-year-old female to engage in sexual activity. When he went to meet her at a predetermined location, he was arrested and found to be in possession of Viagra, condoms, a camera, a knife, handcuffs, a first-aid kit and a deck of 52 sex-position cards.

Alake 'Terry' Ilegbameh, 46, a resident of the Baldwin Hills district of Los Angeles, was found guilty of 6 counts of conspiracy to violate immigration laws.

The cultural artifacts were turned over to HSI special agents by the family of a deceased Marine lieutenant, who had served in the Korean War. The lieutenant had found the seals in 1950 in a ditch near the Deoksugung Palace, which had just been ransacked by Chinese and North Korean soldiers.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is proposing changes to the requirements governing its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) that are intended to improve management of international student programs and increase opportunities for study by spouses and children of nonimmigrant students.

Ruth Antuanet Miller, 35, faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment when she is sentenced March 28.

On Dec. 8, 2011, Hilton Cordero-Rosario, 52, was arrested by HSI special agents on production and possession of child pornography charges. According to the 21-count indictment, Cordero-Rosario had digital images and video files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.