News Releases and Statements

A Los Angeles-area toy wholesaler, its two owners and the company's primary bookkeeper pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges related to their participation in an elaborate scheme known as a Black Market Peso Exchange, which enables drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and Colombia to launder proceeds from their drug sales.

Five Fresno men have been indicted on federal charges following a probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that uncovered a scheme to produce and sell tens of thousands of counterfeit movie and audio disks valued at more than $1 million.

A high ranking member of the Gulf Cartel was convicted Sept. 28 regarding a drug trafficking conspiracy that spanned more than 10 years, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

A state government employee, Saul Velasco, is in federal custody after his arrest Wednesday on a drug charge. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents are investigating the case.

Two leaders of separate but sometimes collaborating drug-trafficking organizations were arrested and are among 39 defendants facing federal drug charges, federal and local law enforcement officials announced Friday.

" A man illegally living in the United States was convicted at trial late Wednesday of attempting to bribe a corrupt government official to obtain a ""green card,"" part of a long-term joint undercover investigation into a group of Chinese nationals engaged in purchasing fraudulent permanent resident alien cards."

The Webb County Sheriff's Office was presented with a check for more than $800,000 Thursday from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Nine people from Rapid City and the surrounding Black Hills community were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to harbor aliens and harboring aliens. Four of the nine individuals are charged with an additional count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The sixteen individuals are charged in three separate indictments with conspiring to import cocaine into the United States from the Dominican Republic.

Michelle and Michael Freeman, the Salem couple arrested earlier this month after a nationwide search by ICE's HSI for an unknown "Jane Doe" child pornographer, were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on five counts of child sexual exploitation.

Atlas Advisors LLC, which employs a global workforce of nearly 100, with more than a dozen in Columbus, has pledged, and been officially certified by ICE, to protect the integrity of their workforce, becoming only the fourth company in the state with the distinction.

One officer and a former officer with the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRP), and an associate are in custody in Canada Thursday following an investigation into a cheese smuggling scheme. The investigation is being conducted by members of Buffalo's Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST).

Farrell Corrway, 29, had previously pleaded guilty to the charge before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini. In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Corrway to 10 years of federal supervised release.

Howard Jay Bonifant, a 26-year-old resident of Las Vegas, Nev., was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison following his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The investigation was a cooperative effort among ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, and the Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force.

Two men, including a Norwalk middle school teacher, are facing state felony charges for their role in an Ecstasy and steroid distribution scheme uncovered during a joint probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the La Habra Police Department.

Three Laredo residents were sentenced Wednesday for their roles in an alien transporting conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

A federal jury Thursday convicted Sixing Liu, a former employee of a New Jersey-based defense contractor, of exporting sensitive U.S. military technology to China, stealing trade secrets and lying to federal agents.

Ryan Scott Nichols was sentenced Tuesday to concurrently serve 15 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography and 10 years in federal prison for possessing more than 3,000 images and 100 videos depicting child pornography. His sentences resulted from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A Florida distributor of fresh produce is the latest employer to be certified with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) employment compliance program, IMAGE, or 'ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers.'

A Cornville man was arrested Friday by the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office for possession of child pornography, following a joint investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Valentin Gutierrez was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Monday for providing counterfeit immigration documents and Social Security cards to illegal aliens and then employing them at various locations across three states. The sentence follows an investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Arianne Rodriguez was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison Tuesday for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.

Four Mexican nationals were charged Tuesday in federal court in a massive human smuggling case that resulted in the rescue of 82 illegal aliens in a Houston residence. The investigation is being conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Houston Police Department.

An illegal alien from Mexico, Carlos Martinez-Aguilar, was sentenced Tuesday to 36 months in prison for harboring illegal aliens after an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Houston Police Department (HPD).

Michael Ramos, 25, of Terra Bella, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison after pleading guilty Monday to possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3 before Chief U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii.