News Releases and Statements

Three Mexican men face federal charges following their arrest Friday at a West Valley drop house discovered by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). HSI special agents were first alerted to the drop house Dec. 5 after a woman contacted HSI Atlanta to report that a man was demanding she pay him $4,000 or he would kill her niece.

Miguel A. Sanchez-Palomares, a previously deported Mexican national, pleaded guilty Monday to making, possessing and selling fraudulent immigration documents, following an undercover probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Timothy Arthur Steinbarth, 50, pleaded guilty May 16 to possessing child pornography and was sentenced Dec. 10 to 46 months in federal prison.

HSBC Holdings plc, a United Kingdom corporation headquartered in London; and HSBC Bank USA N.A. (together, HSBC), a federally chartered banking corporation headquartered in McLean, Va., have agreed to forfeit $1.26 billion and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department for HSBC's violations...

A U.S. Border Patrol agent from northeast Montana, Paul Anthony Rible, pleaded guilty Tuesday to child pornography charges.

An employee at a contracted state license office, Thomas Richard McNamara III, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to conspiracy to unlawfully assist more than 100 illegal aliens obtain fraudulent Missouri driver's licenses.

It began with a routine traffic stop in Tampa, Fla. On Feb. 4, just after 5 p.m., Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputies pulled over 21-year-old Kathleen Roberson. Not only did she not have a valid driver's license, but she was also transporting five illegal aliens in her Kia Sorrento.

As part of ICE's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, 31 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators were arrested during a two-day operation in the greater Chicago area.

According to court documents, William J. Britt, 55, possessed multiple videos containing child pornography and a short-barreled shotgun.

Andrew Chojecki, a past applications-adjudicator for the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), has been indicted by a Bay Area grand jury on nine criminal counts stemming from his alleged role in a marriage fraud scheme.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested 37 foreign nationals with prior convictions for sex offenses during a three-day operation targeting criminal alien sex offenders in the Los Angeles area.

Stanley Kuo Jua Yang, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner, who remanded Yang into custody at the conclusion of Monday's sentencing hearing.

The seized items include counterfeit designer clothing and sportswear, and pirated CDs/DVDs.

As part of ICE's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, 17 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators were arrested during a three-day operation in the Madison area.

The extradition and arraignment of four Mexican sex traffickers, along with the reunion of a Mexican sex trafficking victim and her child, was announced Dec. 10 as a result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

ICE's HSI was appointed chair this week in Abu Dhabi of the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), an international alliance of 18 law enforcement agencies and private sector partners dedicated to combating online child sexual abuse.

Keith James of Baltimore was sentenced to 10 years in prison after James pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Alfredo Hernandez Jr., 37, appeared Monday before Senior U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. In addition to the prison time, Hernandez will be required to register as a sex offender and serve a lifetime term of supervised release, during which his access to computers, the Internet and minors will be restricted.

Faisal Hashime of Springfield, Va., was sentenced to 180 months in prison for posing online as an attractive teen girl to entice minor boys to produce sexually explicit images, several of which he sent to others online. The sentencing follows an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C.

The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) announced the kickoff of Operation Holiday Hoax, an international enforcement effort to track down those who are selling counterfeit and pirated products this holiday season.

Dennis L. Gil-Bernardez, an MS-13 member who also is known as Pando, pled guilty today to taking part in a federal racketeering conspiracy that was responsible for numerous crimes, including two murders, in the Washington, D.C., region.

The government of Spain requested assistance to seize the property.

Phillip L. Taylor pleaded guilty in August to the latest charges. He was previously convicted of the same crime in 1999.

Robert Fenn, 27, of Herndon, Va., was indicted by a federal grand jury today accused of receiving and possessing child pornography. Fenn taught at Poplar Tree Elementary School in Chantilly, Va., prior to his arrest on related state charges in June.

Twenty-one businesses representing the automotive, marketing, healthcare, restaurant, security, agriculture, food and telecommunications industries became the latest employers to partner with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to strengthen their hiring practices, reduce fraud and ensure they employ a legal workforce.