News Releases and Statements

HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Charles Allen Nave III's place of business and uncovered more than 100 images of child pornography in his possession.

Seven members of a drug smuggling organization that attempted to smuggle more than two tons of marijuana through El Paso bridges remain in custody after special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested them Tuesday.

Michael Little was arrested Thursday on charges of trafficking in counterfeit goods for allegedly advertising and selling via Internet postings artwork attributed to renowned artist Dale Chihuly.

Todd Fleming, 53, from McKinney, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury April 17 and charged with 24 counts of sexually exploiting a child, and one count of possessing child pornography.

Aurelio J. Ariaz, 27, was sentenced to 97 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Gregg Costa. The sentence will be immediately followed by 15 years of supervised release, where he must comply with a number of special conditions designed to protect children and prohibit the use of the Internet.

James L. Scott was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for possessing child pornography as the result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Richard Dinizo is accused of videotaping the sexual abuse of five minors, who were all under the age of 11 years-old when the alleged crimes occurred.

Albert Silva Hernandez, Jr., 44, of Las Vegas, was found guilty of producing child pornography and exchanging sexually explicit text messages with a female minor. Hernandez previously served as a softball coach at Silverado High School and for a competitive club team.

Benito Aguilar-Ozuna was charged along with three others as the result of an investigation that began in 2006.

The government proved that Michael Pena participated in a drug trafficking organization that transported large amounts of marijuana, concealed in the hulls of altered shallow-bottom fishing boats.

"On Thursday morning, 350 agents and officers of Denver's Metro Gang Task Force and other agencies arrested people who have been charged by indictment with drug trafficking crimes. Thirty-three people were arrested throughout Colorado's ""Front Range"" April 25. "

Two men from China, who were found with more than 14,000 fake luxury items, both pleaded guilty to producing counterfeit goods, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

Emil Moldovan, 40, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles Jr. that upon his release from prison, he must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Two Mexican nationals unlawfully residing in Baltimore were sentenced to federal prison Tuesday and Wednesday for conspiring to operate a document mill in Baltimore and selling thousands of fraudulent government identification documents manufactured as part of the conspiracy.

Solomon Blue Waters, 42, of London, England, pleaded guilty April 24 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward B. Atkins in the Eastern District of Kentucky to using the Internet to engage in sexual activity with a minor.

On behalf of the United States and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. ICE signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) April 22 with Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller General Abdullahi Dikko Inde.

Federal authorities Wednesday announced the filing of criminal charges against seven individuals for their role in plundering and smuggling swim bladders belonging to the endangered Totoaba fish that lives exclusively in Mexico's Sea of Cortez.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office has filed felony charges against three local vendors identified during Operation Fashion Faux Pas, a crackdown by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Orange County retailers suspected of dealing in counterfeit designer goods.

Billy Wayne Johnson pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to a superseding information charging one count of transporting child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. A forensic evaluation of Johnson's laptop and thumb drive that were seized revealed more than 1600 still images and 194 videos of child pornography.

Philippe Jeannard, 61, of La Rochelle, France, is charged with one count of fraud in connection with an identification document.

Christopher Dale Harrison, 32, from Port Neches, Texas, was arrested April 19 following a federal criminal complaint charging him with possessing, distributing, receiving, and producing child pornography. Â Harrison appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith F. Giblin April 22.

James W. Vertullo, 51, of Pittsburgh, was indicted by a federal grand jury June 6, 2012 and arrested by HSI special agents June 13, 2012. He subsequently pleaded guilty to the charge in December 2012.

A federal jury convicted German de Jesus Ventura, 35, a citizen of El Salvador living unlawfully in the country and residing in Capitol Heights, Md., of conspiring to transport and entice females to travel interstate for prostitution; transporting females for prostitution; enticing females to travel interstate for prostitution; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and possessing a gun in furtherance of sex trafficking.

A concrete company became the first employer in Yuma to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in a nationwide program designed to strengthen hiring practices and combat the unlawful employment of unauthorized workers.

Indalecio Castro-Ponce faces possible life in prison after being found guilty by a federal jury on charges stemming from his role as the transportation coordinator for a methamphetamine distribution ring operating in the southwestern United States.