News Releases and Statements

Michael King, 31, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud May 30.

James Douglas Barding and his Ukrainian national mistress Darya Chernova allegedly approached at least one U.S. citizen to enlist in a scam marriage so that she could remain in the United States.

Bruce Lee Jennings made child pornography directly available for others to download from his Internet Protocol address and peer-to-peer file sharing directory. A forensic examination of his computers and hard drives found that Jennings amassed more than 1,490 images and 3,220 videos depicting images of children being sexually abused and exploited.

David Moe, 46, of Denver, appeared at the change of plea hearing in custody. U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez is scheduled to sentence Moe Sept. 10.

Samuel Nevarez-Ayon, a Mexican national who led an Idaho-based methamphetamine trafficking ring, was sentenced Thursday to 292 months in prison on charges stemming from a nine-month Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) probe led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.

Khalil Survey's electronic storage devices included 46,353 images of child sexual abuse, including 983 images involving infants or toddlers and 783 images involving sadomasochistic abuse. On Survey's iPhone, law enforcement officers found photographs he had taken of himself downloading child pornography onto his home computer.

Marijan Cvjeticanin was arrested Wednesday and charged with defrauding two international companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by fraudulently billing them for advertising services that were never provided.

Michael D. Arnett, 38, of Roeland Park, Kan., had pleaded guilty Feb. 11 to one count of producing child pornography. In his plea, Arnett admitted that investigators found child pornography on his computer when they served a search warrant at his home in Roeland Park May 15, 2012.

Donyel James Fitts persuaded and coerced a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct so he could photograph the minor, videotaped a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and took videos and photographs of himself engaged in sex acts with a 4-year-old child.

Roberto J. Velasquez, 55, of National City, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Agents found potted marijuana plants, plant food and chemicals, and materials commonly used for packaging illegal drugs.

U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III, District of Delaware, and Special Agent in Charge John P. Kelleghan, HSI Philadelphia, discussed some of these cases that have been investigated and prosecuted - or are in the process of prosecution - in Delaware since April 1 at a press conference today in Wilmington.

Spice, as it is commonly called, is frequently branded as incense or potpourri and, although the label says that it's not intended for human consumption, it is often used as synthetic marijuana. The use of this dangerous synthetic drug can lead to agitation, confusion, hallucinations, vomiting, heart attacks, comas and death.

German Rolando Vicente-Sapon, a Guatemalan man illegally present in the United States, was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison Thursday for sexually abusing a teenage Guatemalan girl he illegally trafficked across the Mexican border.

ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Puerto Rico Police Department and Puerto Rico's Department of Treasury, arrested 39 individuals in nine Puerto Rican municipalities Friday during an operation dubbed Easy Check.

Jeffrey W. Herschell of Washington, Pa., sent money to the Philippines in February 2010 for a live, online sex show that included a 12-year-old minor female engaging in sexual activity. Herschell also admitted to possessing child pornography videos at his Pennsylvania residence.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney and representatives from several law enforcement agencies announced Tuesday an indictment charging Liberty Reserve, one of the world's largest digital currency companies, and seven of its principals and employees with money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Adam Arnold, 44, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison Tuesday for receiving and distributing child pornography.

Eric Huggins admitted that from February 2009 through January 2011, he intentionally trafficked in clothing, handbags, sunglasses, and other merchandise that contained counterfeit trademarks.

Mustapha Issaka Zico of Nima, Ghana, was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison for conspiring to import heroin from Ghana into the United States. Zico was one of the ringleaders of a multi-kilogram heroin trafficking organization in Ghana.

Six members of the Latin Kings street gang were sentenced this week for racketeering conspiracy before Senior District Judge Rudy Lozano in the Northern District of Indiana.

A former Key West Bank officer, Karen Galo, pleaded guilty Thursday to unlawfully disclosing a federal grand jury subpoena to a third party with intent to obstruct a judicial proceeding. The guilty plea resulted from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

James Paul Hunt was indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage on felony charges of making false statements and perjury, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). While applying to be a third-party custodian for his son, he neglected to inform officials of his 1987 conviction on child sex abuse charges.