News Releases and Statements

A foreign physician suspected of being a large-scale supplier of phony erectile dysfunction drugs to distributors in California, Texas and Europe faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges stemming from a long-term probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Eleven foreign nationals were charged Thursday in a 90-count superseding federal indictment alleging they conspired to distribute cocaine and engaged in tax fraud, money laundering, identity theft and other financial crimes.

Two Mexican nationals, Julio Cesar Flores-Martinez and Francisco Padilla-Perez, pleaded guilty Thursday to attempting to illegally smuggle 652 assault rifle magazines into Mexico. The investigation for this case is being led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A twice-deported Mexican national, Reynaldo Coronado-Piedra, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported. The sentence resulted from an investigation by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

A Mexican national, Jorge Luis Gallegos, appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge Wednesday to face charges for allegedly harboring and transporting five illegal aliens who were discovered boarding a plane at the McAllen-Miller International Airport. This case is being investigated ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance...

Members of the Latin Kings gang in Newburgh, N.Y., were found guilty Wednesday of crimes committed during their association with the gang. Beginning in 2007, the Newburgh Latin Kings and their associates sold cocaine, crack heroin and marijuana at drug spots in Newburgh and protected the gang's drug turf, drugs and drug money using violence.

Nathan Paul Severson of Rochester, Minn., pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to distributing child pornography. He admitted that he possessed about 11,600 still images and 430 videos of child pornography, The plea resulted from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Scott Smallwood, a Prince George's County, Md. school bus driver who used his cell phone to document his sexual abuse of a child, was sentenced to 55 years in prison for producing child pornography, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Smallwood kept ledgers with personal information of more than 400 children.

Vanessa Peguero, an employee of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, was charged today with producing false driver's licenses as the result of an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). From February 2010 through June 2012, Peguero allegedly issued Massachusetts' driver's licenses to individuals who presented...

A Fort Bliss, Texas, man was sentenced to life in prison Friday for producing and distributing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

An Escondido-based commercial framing company, S&H Contracting Inc., has become the latest employer headquartered in the San Diego area to partner with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in a program designed to strengthen hiring practices and combat the unlawful employment of illegal aliens.

Curt Scholz was sentenced Tuesday to 152 months in prison for possession of child pornography after an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).Scholz acknowledged that among the more than 150 images of child pornography he possessed were images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct with other minors.

As part of ICE's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, 24 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators were arrested during a three-day operation in the Indianapolis area.

Donald Cunningham, 47, of Urbana, was arrested July 16 by HSI special agents. A federal grand jury returned an indictment last week, but it remained sealed pending Cunningham's arrest and court appearance.

ICE proudly selects service members like U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Sandra Ambotaite through the Department of Defense's Operation Warfighter internship program to work in ICE offices nationwide as they recover from their traumatic injuries.

A Canoga Park man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to using Craigslist to advertise and sell counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A Ukrainian man, Omelyan Botsvynyuk, was sentenced Monday to life in prison for operating a human trafficking organization which smuggled young Ukrainian immigrants into the United States and forced them to work for little or no pay. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of the Joint FBI...

Mario Laguna-Guerrero pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to engage in the sex trafficking of a minor. Laguna-Guerrero began recruiting "Jane Doe," who has an IQ of 58, to perform commercial sex acts in exchange for money in Hillsborough County sometime in 2008.

Pedro Lopez-Rocha, a Mexican national who arrived in Southern California on board a marijuana-laden panga-style boat that came ashore north of Malibu in mid-January, has received a nearly six-year prison term.

Geoffrey B. Roose was sentenced Friday to 10 months in federal prison for attempting to sell export restricted military-grade equipment to overseas buyers in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Roose pleaded guilty in March following his February federal indictment,which stemmed from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.

Dino Rambharose, a New York City man who was arrested for resisting efforts to deport him multiple times, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison. The sentence is the result of an investigation by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO). On three separate occasions, Rambharose resisted being deported.

Two men accused of creating a global network of shell companies to deceive U.S. companies into supplying nuclear-related materials to Iran were indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia following an international investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Top 5 news stories for the week ending July 13, 2012

James M. Woosley, the former acting director of ICE's Office of Intelligence, was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for defrauding the U.S. government. Woosley defrauded the government of more than $180,000 in a scheme involving fraudulent travel vouchers, and time and attendance claims.