News Releases and Statements

A married couple, illegally in the United States, remain in federal custody after special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested them Wednesday on criminal complaints charging them with selling fraudulent identity documents.

Sandra Rivas, a Los Lunas, N.M., woman who worked for a local business, was sentenced Thursday to 42 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release following her conviction on bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.

John David Baker used computers and interactive computer services to engage in online conversations with several minor children over the Internet. Baker served as a talent judge for a talent competition in Florida. In this role, Baker met minor children who were auditioning to work in the art and film industries.

Walter Brown, a customer service representative at the Osceola County Tax Collector's Office, was arrested April 19 and charged via criminal complaint with conspiracy to knowingly, and without lawful authority, produce identification documents in violation of federal law.

A federal jury found two citizens of the United Kingdom, Paul R. Gunter and Simon Andrew Odoni, guilty Friday for their role in an international investment fraud and money laundering scheme following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Secret Service.

Two men, who flew into Lubbock Aero airport Wednesday evening, were arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Several duffel bags were located in a rear compartment of the aircraft that contained about 98 bundles of marijuana, four bundles of hashish, and two bundles of mushrooms.

A previously deported illegal alien from Mexico, Idelfonso Garcia-Benitez, was charged Thursday with smuggling a group of 14 illegal aliens that resulted in seven being killed and one injured in critical condition.

Hector Vargas-Reyes was arrested at his residence by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents after an HSI investigation and the results of a PRPD search warrant revealed that he had allegedly used a mobile telephone to attempt to create images of a 16-year-old minor in sexually explicit poses in the bathroom of her home.

Santos Lopez-Claudio, a Salvadoran national captured recently in Santa Clara County who is wanted in his native country for his role in two murders, was handed over to authorities in El Salvador Wednesday by U.S. ICE.

Andrew Blane Fields engaged in the sex trafficking of three different victims for commercial gain. Fields coerced and controlled the victims by, among other methods, supplying them with a large number of highly addictive prescription drugs on a daily basis.

A Seattle-based marine transportation company, whose fleet ferries crucial supplies to Alaska, is the latest employer to be certified under a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) program designed to strengthen hiring practices and combat the unlawful employment of unauthorized workers.

Three new member countries have joined the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), an international alliance of law enforcement and private sector agencies dedicated to combating online child sexual abuse.

Brian Bernard Willin of Brownwood, Texas, admitted that he used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program that he had installed on his computer to download and view several images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He saved some of the material on his computer and onto a DVD.

Luciano Mendez-Rojas was sentenced to 21 years in prison April 16 for sexually exploiting a child and distributing images and videos of child pornography over the Internet. In July 2011, Mendez-Rojas and his co-defendant, Inocencia Ortega, engaged in sexually explicit conduct in their home in The Bronx, while their minor child filmed videos...

Two New Jersey men, who were convicted of conspiring to travel to Somalia to join a terrorist group and murder individuals whose beliefs and practices did not align with their extremist ideology, were sentenced April 16 to 22 and 20 years in prison, respectively. The individuals were previously arrested following a multi-agency investigation...

Christopher Blackford, 28, of Charleston, S.C., pleaded guilty to participating in a child exploitation enterprise and faces 20 years to life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years of supervised release. William Davis, 39, of Bristol, N.H., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography and faces 15 to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release for his role in Dreamboard.

Twenty individuals were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday in Miami-Dade and Broward counties for attempting to defraud immigration authorities by posing as Cuban citizens. The arrests resulted from an investigation conducted by ICE's HSI, USCIS, CBP and U.S. DoS's Diplomatic Security Service.

Eric Cortez Flores was the Mexican Mafia's methamphetamine supplier from Lubbock to San Angelo, Texas.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) returned a 16th century tapestry, stolen in 1979 from a church, to the government of Spain Wednesday at a repatriation ceremony at the Spanish ambassador's residence in Washington.

Richard Castle has been extradited to the U.S. to faces charges of coercion of a minor and travelling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor. The charges are related to a trip he allegedly made to Ohio from his home in order to have sexual relations with a juvenile in June 2011.

"A Cleveland-area measurement device manufacturer, NOSHOK Inc., has partnered with U.S. ICE's employment compliance program IMAGE, or ""ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers."""

Petr Murmylyuk of Brooklyn, N.Y created a fake employment-related website that offered fictitious job placement services. Murmylyuk sent e-mails with a link to his fake website through legitimate job search forums, and hundreds of people visited his site and submitted personal identifying information. He used this information to forge tax returns

Jose Maria Carbajal Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and to making a false statement on a loan application to a federally insured bank. Carbajal transported marijuana from September 2008 to January 2011 through ranches around the Falfurrias U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint.

A search warrant executed at Timothy Wayne Bailey's home resulted in the discovery of electronic storage devices that revealed images of child pornography, including images of Bailey's prior sexual abuse of a family member. The victim was interviewed and described more than four years of continuous sexual assault suffered at the hands of Bailey.

Adebowale Ayodeji Owoaje pleaded guilty in January 2013 to four counts of wire fraud in a scheme to defraud individuals who were selling items and applying for jobs on craigslist. Using various aliases, Owoaje used e-mail to reach an agreement with the individuals on the sale price of items or terms of employment.