News Releases and Statements

Federal agents arrested Patrick Campbell Wednesday for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by attempting to broker the sale of yellowcake uranium to Iran. Campbell brought a sample of uranium with him to the United States Aug. 21, which he concealed in the soles of shoes packed in his luggage.

Matthew Bren Goodlett was caught with more than 3,500 images and 150 videos of child exploitation.

U.S. and Mexican government agencies came together to host a human trafficking training conference for judges, prosecutors, forensic specialists, psychologists and researchers Aug. 19 to 23 in Guadalajara.

Herbert J. Townsend and George Johnson received federal prison sentences Thursday for their roles in an extensive drug trafficking ring that distributed more than three kilograms of methamphetamine in Mississippi from 2006 until 2012.

Mehdi Khorramshahgol conspired with others in Iran to purchase industrial goods from United States businesses for the Iranian petrochemical industry. The defendant falsely represented that the end users for his purchases were in Dubai.

Jacob Aniceto Jose Villarreal used his cell phone to create a video of a boy engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In addition, Villarreal admitted that he collected and traded images and videos of child pornography.

Michael E. Ontiveros and Jorge Muhedano-Hernandez were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in separate and unrelated indictments that charge the defendants in the Central District of Illinois with child pornography offenses.

Nicolas Perret posed online as a 15-year-old boy to entice teens into performing sexually explicit activities on webcams. More than 100 videos featuring suspected underage girls on webcams in sexually exploitative situations were recovered on Perret's laptop.

Joshua Jerome Davis and his mother, Sharilyn Kae Anderson, are expected to appear in federal court Thursday following their indictment for allegedly working together to prostitute a local runaway beginning when the girl was only 15.

Restitution will be paid to 20 car manufacturers whose trademarks Xian violated. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 22.

David Simpkins, 25, has been charged with producing child pornography involving two young victims.

Thomas Monroe Lee engaged in email chats and text messages with what he thought was a 14-year-old boy named Skylar that were sexual in nature. Lee subsequently drove to a location where he had arranged to meet Skylar, where officers from various law enforcement agencies arrested him for attempted online enticement of a child.

On June 21, 2012, Donyel James Fitts persuaded and coerced a 4-year-old child to engage in sexually explicit conduct, so that he could photograph the minor. On two occasions in October, he videotaped the 4-year-old child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Afghanistan Minister of Interior Affairs General Ghulam Mujtaba Patang held a national press conference July 31, where he publicly announced the establishment of the first Afghanistan Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit (TCIU).

Bernard, who was in the United States illegally, is expected to be deported to Argentina after he completes his prison sentence.

"Avila Beltran, a Mexican woman convicted of being an accessory after the fact in aiding cocaine traffickers, and known to international media outlets as the ""Queen of the Pacific"" for her alleged ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel, was deported to Mexico Tuesday morning by ICE."

Phillip Amisano-Camillo admitted that in May 2012 he traveled from Washington State to Dallas to meet "John Doe," who he knew was a 14-year-old minor, for a sexual encounter. Camillo also admitted that before and during his time in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, he enticed John Doe to sneak out of his home and meet to engage in unlawful sexual acts.

On Aug. 8, representatives of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pretoria traveled to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to complete the transfer of approximately $126,000 in border security equipment, information technology (IT) and capacity building resources in support of DRC's immigration authorities.

Since 2009, more than 200 carjackings have taken place in Essex County, and each year that number continues to climb. In response to this, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, along with members of the Anti-Carjacking Task Force, which includes ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), unveiled an anti-carjacking public awareness campaign.

According to court records, the ring used legitimate websites like Craigslist.org and AutoTrader.com to advertise luxury cars, boats and recreational vehicles for sale.

This corporation was actually a front company established by law enforcement to act as an importer.

In October, investigators discovered that Phillip Wayne Mathenia possessed hundreds of images of child pornography on several computers, as well as in books, magazines and films that appeared to be decades old. Mathenia was previously convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography in 2004.

Branding is important to any organization, a strong brand name tells people who an organization is and what they do.

The 361 arrests included 263 gang members and associates from 43 different gangs in 71 U.S. cities and 98 others encountered during the operation: 84 non-gang members wanted on criminal charges and 14 for immigration violations.