News Releases and Statements

Michael Ortiz, the father of a Bay Area gang member, was sentenced Friday to 70 months in prison for obstruction of justice and being an accessory-after-the-fact to three racketeering murders committed by his son, Joseph Ortiz.

HSI special agents arrested Gerardo V. Navarro-Rodriguez at his medical office in Caguas after an investigation revealed he allegedly induced, coerced and enticed at least one 17-year-old male minor to engage in commercial sexual acts.

The charges are the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG) and the New York State Inspector General.

Eight individuals arrested last week in Jamaica for their involvement in a fraudulent lottery scheme were charged Friday with various criminal violations.

Representatives from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), helped the Florida Attorney General's Office unveil a new human trafficking awareness campaign Friday in Hillsborough County.

There are many ICE employees who are currently serving in the National Guard and in all branches of the reserves. Contributing to that rich culture is ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent, and Army reservist, Norman B. Green, who was promoted to brigadier general during a ceremony at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Sept. 14.

"Kenneth Royal Wheeler made Facebook posts with instructions for people to kill children at a local daycare. He also told his ""followers"" to kill specific police officers, as well as their families and children."

Mohammad Ajmal Choudhry was arraigned Wednesday on a superseding indictment charging him with conspiring to commit murder in a foreign county, transmitting threats via interstate communications and visa fraud.

Dakota Robert Rogers pleaded guilty to distributing Fentanyl, a potent opium-based pain killer, before U.S. District Court Judge Sam E. Haddon. Sentencing has been set for Feb. 21.

Authorities with the Santa Cruz County High Intensity Drug Trafficking (HIDTA) Investigative Task Force interdicted a large drug smuggling attempt Thursday, seizing more than 2,900 pounds of marijuana from a horse trailer on Highway 82 near Nogales.

The defendant, Doru Gabriel Trifu, allegedly conducted more than 230 fraudulent transactions with Internet purchasers in Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.

Forty-three individuals were arrested Tuesday for bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and drug trafficking.

DGA Director Juan Fernando Fernandez hosted the Sept. 26 signing ceremony and U.S. Charge d' Affairs to the Dominican Republic Daniel L. Foote also attended.

Joshua Babilonia, 23, of Fair Lawn, appeared Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court and was released on a $50,000 bond.

Harold Michael Nicol's computers and storage media were forensically examined and revealed that Nicol possessed more than 400 images of child pornography.

Alex Sanchez Jr., manager of El Mezcal Mexican Restaurant in eastern Kansas, was indicted in federal court Friday on nine counts related to hiring and harboring illegal aliens for his business.

The last two of 23 men and women accused in a Savannah-based sex trafficking organization pleaded guilty Tuesday. Joaquin Mendez-Hernandez, the leader of the organization which operated in Savannah, other parts of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Mexico, pleaded guilty Sept. 17.

James Joseph Carothers, a Bay Area man identified as part of a global child pornography probe spearheaded by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), was convicted Wednesday following a weeklong trial in state court.

Two Idaho Falls methamphetamine dealers pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug charges stemming from an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), including ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Camilo Torres-Martinez pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of conspiracy to traffic more than five kilograms of cocaine while onboard a vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, including importing, manufacturing and possessing the drug with intent to distribute.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of the Chief Information Officer has been nominated for the prestigious (ISC)2 Government Information Security Leadership Award for Community Awareness.

Michael J. Rolfe of Gates, N.Y., took a child who was less than 12 years old on a trip from Rochester to locations in Texas in August 2012 while he was employed as a long distance truck driver. Rolfe engaged in sexual acts with the child while traveling outside of New York.

According to U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr., the scheme targeted elderly citizens throughout the United States, including two seniors living in western New York.

Lee Baca, of Albuquerque, was charged June 26 in a sealed 5-count indictment charging him with 3 counts of receiving, and 2 counts of possessing child pornography.

According to court documents, on Nov. 10, Jason G. Aman, 30, used an Internet chat room to initiate contact with an undercover agent who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.