News Releases and Statements

Luis Gerardo Alvarado, 22, met a girl who lived in Coleman County, Texas, by contacting her through a Facebook chat and attempted to persuade and entice her to have sex with him. Alvarado knew the girl was under 17 years of age.

Eulises Abraham Nava-Romero, 26, has been in federal custody since his arrest in January on a related federal felony criminal complaint following the execution of a federal search warrant at his home in Dallas by HSI special agents.

Two suburban Kansas City women, and four co-defendants, were sentenced in federal court this week for their roles in a $5 million conspiracy that used a state licensing office to provide more than 3,500 fraudulent documents to illegal aliens across the nation.

Kevin Garcia Fuertes aka Kerlin Esquivel-Feuntes, 26, illegally residing in Annapolis and Richmond, Va., was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. to 235 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Judge Quarles further imposed a special condition that upon the completion of his sentence, that Fuertes must cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding deportation proceedings.

Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) joins the nation in remembering the 12th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 - a day that ultimately led to the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.

"A Pennsylvania man, Naman Bader, aka ""John C. Koshy,"" was sentenced Wednesday to 12 months in prison for smuggling and illegally distributing more than two million prescription pills including Xanax, Valium, Phentermine, Ativan, Klonopin, Ambien and their generic equivalents."

Meliton Torres, 31, of Lancaster, Texas, who will remain on bond, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18 by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than five or more than 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

HSI Philadelphia received information from the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force alleging Van N. Epps, 36, of Philadelphia, was involved in distributing and receiving child pornography via the Internet.

Logan Storm, 37, received 84 months in prison on the child exploitation charge and 12 months for failing to appear at his detention hearing. The sentences will be served consecutively.

Following his prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez ordered David Moe, 46, of Denver, to spend 10 years on supervised release. Moe was also ordered to pay $5,000 restitution to each of three victims who filed requests with the court.

Derrick Gossett, 32, of Humble, Texas, and a music teacher at Anderson Elementary School in the Spring ISD, was taken into custody Sept. 6 on charges of producing child pornography. During his initial appearance Sept. 9, U.S. Magistrate Judge George Hanks ordered him into custody pending further criminal proceedings.

Luis Alberto Morales-Badillo, 42, must also serve 15 years of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence.

Bruce Omlor was sentenced to 75 months in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to one count of child pornography. Omlor formerly worked as a special education teacher with the Toledo Public Schools.

Marco Antonio Quiahua-Panzo was sentenced Monday to one year in prison for conspiring to sell false identification documents and for being a deported alien found in the United States, following a probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Blessed Marvelous Herve, a San Francisco man who claimed his father was president of the Congo, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges stemming from a probe by the FBI and ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jose Eduardo Jeronimo was sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison for selling counterfeit video and music DVDs and CDs, following a probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents in Manila worked in close cooperation with Philippine law enforcement to successfully bust a cybersex syndicate based in Cebu, Philippines. Seven suspects were arrested and more than a dozen child victims rescued in four operations between May and September.

The vase is a 12.75-inch Roman oinochoe, or wine pitcher, from the 5th to 8th century A.D. Also returned were three 4-by-3.25-inch 5th century B.C. gold foil appliques depicting antelopes and two antique coiled gold ornaments from approximately the 17th century, weighing approximately one pound.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in coordination with Alabama state police and the Elmore County Sheriff's Department seized approximately 60,000 counterfeit items from an Alabama flea market Saturday worth a total manufacturer's suggested retail price of more than $2.04 million.

Raja Zafar Iqbal, 41, and his brother, Javed Iqbal Raja, 50, both naturalized U.S. citizens from Pakistan, and Muhammad Asif Raza, 33, a citizen and national of Pakistan, are charged with trafficking in counterfeit goods or services.

Pedro Luis Baez-Torres was arrested after an HSI investigation, which stemmed from a Puerto Rico Police Department referral, revealed he allegedly requested sexually explicit images from a 14-year-old female minor. Forensic examination of Baez-Torres's cell phone revealed about 122 images depicting the victim in a sexually explicit manner.

Federal agents arrested two brothers, both of whom worked for law enforcement agencies, Thursday for conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act by exporting high-powered weapons from the United States to the Philippines.

Two men unlawfully residing in Maryland were sentenced to federal prison Friday for aggravated identity theft and conspiring to sell fraudulent identification documents. Antonio Abraham Cruz-Cruz manufactured at least 2,000 permanent resident cards, social security cards and driver's licenses, which he offered for sale...

Philip Chaohui He, aka Philip Hope, is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Y. Daniel Dec. 18. He is currently in federal custody.

Ricardo Avelar Valdez was sentenced Friday for attempting to smuggle several multi-thousand pound loads of marijuana from Mexico to Prince William County, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). On Aug. 16, Valdez's co-defendant, Francisco Cirilio Vargas-Aquino, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for his role.