News Releases and Statements

The owner of two New Jersey defense contracting businesses, Hannah Robert, was arraigned Monday for allegedly transmitting military blueprints to India without a license.

A southwestern Missouri man, Matthew Cerullo, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to multiple charges related to a scheme to sell thousands of counterfeit DVDs via the Internet.

A Mexican man, Diego DeLeon Chavez, has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for his role in a July 2012 human smuggling conspiracy that resulted in the death of two Guatemalans in a northern Arizona vehicle accident.

According to court documents, the individuals arrested conspired and coordinated the purchase of kilogram quantities of cocaine and heroin from sources in Colombia and Dominican Republic. The drugs were placed inside containerized cargo vessels that were scheduled to arrive in the seaport in San Juan.

Dwight L. Looney, 62, from Fort Worth, Texas, faces a statutory penalty of not less than 15 years or more than 30 years in federal prison, up to a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release.

Jose Fidencio Perez, 40, of Seagraves, Texas, who remains on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

The leader of a human smuggling organization and five others were sentenced to federal prison Friday for their roles in a conspiracy to transport or harbor aliens illegally present in the country.

According to court documents, Stephen Anthony Paulsen, 54, of Fort Worth, used an online social networking application to send sexually explicit messages to an individual he believed was a 15-year-old boy for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

MSNBC will feature a high-profile case, Oct. 27 at 10 p.m. (EST), with which ICE's HSI was heavily involved. The one-hour special, titled "Sex Slaves: Branded" will break down the arrest and conviction of Alex Campbell.

Paul Dunn, 50, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty June 7 to federal charges of receiving child pornography.

Shawn Anthony Fernandez was arrested by law enforcement on July 29, 2012, with approximately 110 grams of pure methamphetamine in the trunk of his vehicle and hidden in the bottom of a cereal box.

A female citizen of Antigua in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) passed away Wednesday at the York County Prison.

Handy Brayan Guzman-Romero, 26, was repatriated on board a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Upon arrival, ERO officers turned the suspect over to officials from the El Salvadoran Civilian National Police (PNC).

David Herman, 77, of Airmont, N.Y., and St. Croix, was arrested by HSI special agents at the St. Croix airport where he expected to meet the child. He is scheduled to appear Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon for an initial appearance in St. Croix federal court.

Felipe Jesus Parra-Flores admitted there would be files depicting child pornography on his laptop, and that it was his child pornography. The forensic examiner located more than 1,000 files which depicted images and videos of child pornography on Parra-Flores' laptop and hard drives.

The head of the Firebaugh Boys and Girls Club, Juan Martin Torres, was indicted Thursday on federal child sexual exploitation charges. Torres allegedly offered to give a 14-year-old victim credit for community service in exchange for engaging in sexual acts.

Boi Quoc Vo, 30, of Anaheim, pleaded guilty to a criminal information charging him with one count of trafficking in counterfeit documentation.

Augustine DeCruz, a Guyanan man illegally residing in the United States, was sentenced Thursday to 106 months in prison for possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine and for possessing a firearm.

Fausto Urias, 32, pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine. 2 other co-conspirators were also sentenced.

A Sacramento-area couple were indicted Thursday for their role in a scheme to illegally distribute large quantities of prescription medications, including Adderall, Vicodin, Oxycodone, Ritalin, Ambien and Xanax.

Thomas Rafferty, 67, of Levittown, Pa., was arrested by HSI special agents Aug. 8 at his home. If convicted of the charges, Rafferty faces up to 200 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a $2.25 million fine.

Robert Luba, the owner and general manager of Sparta-based Allied Components LLC, a company that supplies defense hardware items to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a false claim to the DOD and for violating the Arms Export Control Act. Luba provided the DOD non-conforming wing-pins for the F-15 fighter.

Michael Dale Irwin, 27, was sentenced Wednesday to 210 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett.

A Kansas long-haul truck driver, Joshua David Bellah, was indicted in federal court Wednesday for transporting child pornography across state lines. This crime is alleged to have occurred Oct. 11 when he drove from Oklahoma to Kansas with two laptop computers containing child pornography.