News Releases and Statements

A retired Marine Corps staff sergeant, who until recently worked in the Marine Aviation Supply Office at Edwards Air Force Base, was arrested by federal agents Monday morning following an undercover probe that allegedly revealed he lied to the government as part of a scheme to sell sensitive military equipment to buyers around the globe.

A Mexican national in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) passed away Sunday morning at Victor Valley Community Hospital where he had been undergoing treatment for pneumonia.

Successful investigations stem from partnerships between law enforcement agencies at all levels of government. That was the case when a Redondo Beach police detective rang a Los Angeles-based Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent on Feb. 28.

Jose Garza from Sullivan City, Texas, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine. The investigation was conducted in Corpus Christi by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations...

Minneapolis resident Fabian Patricio Lojano-Lojano was sentenced to two years in federal prison Monday for smuggling AK-47 assault rifle components to Paraguay. Lojano-Lojano admitted that on June 23, 2010, he dropped off a package at a UPS station in Minneapolis. He said the package contained t-shirts, but it actually contained parts for AK-47s.

Domingo Castellon, 56, who has been in custody since his arrest in late January, faces a statutory sentence of not less than 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing is set for June 15 before Judge McBryde.

In addition, U.S. District Judge John McBryde ordered that Johnathon D. Caudill, 24, of McKinney, Texas, register as a sex offender and serve a lifetime of supervised release.

Two men pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiracy to commit hostage taking, while seven others entered guilty pleas to conspiring to harbor illegal aliens, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

David M. Marwell oversees 128 counties in North Texas and the state of Oklahoma.

An eight-count federal indictment was partially unsealed on Friday after two men were arrested for allegedly hiring illegal aliens in Winnie, Texas, to cleanup an oil spill near Marshall, Mich.

Two Puerto Rican senior financial executives, Arturo Carrion and Juan de La Cruz, were recognized by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the Honoring and Recognizing Private Industry for Excellence Program (HARPE) award in a ceremony during the ninth Puerto Rican anti-money laundering symposium in San Juan.

A former Kauai doctor has been sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison on multiple counts of illegally dispensing controlled substances following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations.

Edward John Ranft of Bradenton, Fla.,was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison Thursday for enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, after an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

Three other individuals have also pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme

Additional child pornography charges were filed Friday against a former youth recreational soccer coach after investigators identified a second teenage girl who had been coerced into sending the defendant sexually explicit videos of herself after they met in an online chat room.

A 58-year-old police officer, William Berrios-Cruz, was arrested by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents on Wednesday for production of child pornography based on evidence found in his home after he had allegedly sexually assaulted a minor girl after having slipped something into her drink.

Jonathan D. Martin, 29, of Vincennes, Ind., was sentenced March 1 to 216 months in prison after pleading guilty to the following child pornography charges: one count of possessing sexually explicit material involving minors, 12 counts of receiving and distributing sexually explicit material involving minors, and two counts of posting a notice offering to trade sexually explicit material involving minors.

Three Atlanta-area men have been convicted of armed robbery, drug trafficking and using a firearm in connection with their crimes following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the Gwinnett County Police Department.

More than 2,500 counterfeit items valued at more than $69,000 were confiscated as the result of a joint operation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI),the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Office during the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend in Orlando.

Paulo dos Santos Silva Jr. was arrested on Feb. 25 by HSI special agents without incident at the Grand Junction, Colo., airport. At the March 1 appearance, Silva waived his right to preliminary and detention hearings. The magistrate judge ordered Silva detained without bond pending resolution of his case.

Doo Young Choi, a Korean national wanted in his native country for allegedly embezzling real estate investors out of millions of dollars, was turned over to South Korean law enforcement representatives Thursday at Seoul Incheon International Airport by officers from ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

A recently completed cross-border drug smuggling tunnel was shut down in Nogales, Ariz., Thursday following an investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and coordinated with the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector.

A sealed indictment was returned Jan. 25, and partially unsealed upon the arrests of the following 12 individuals: Petronilo Sanchez-Jimenez, 42, Norma Leticia Silva-Garcia, aka Norma Sanchez, aka Norma Rocha, 38, and Sandro Alvarez-Maldonado, 35, all of Edinburg, Texas; Armando Olmedo-Trevino, 47, Maria Herrera, 34, John Castillo, 31, Ricky Garibaldi, 46, Oscar Garza-Perales, 28, all of Wharton, Texas; Donna Simkins, 45, Tracy Howard, 47, Christian Russo, 39, all of Houston; and Cristobal Ochoa, 48, of Falfurrias, Texas.

Ying Wai Phillip Ng, 47, and his wife, Pui Kuen Ng, 47, allegedly helped an undercover agent (UC) cheat on the written commercial driver's license (CDL) test offered by the DMV.

Michael Timothy Burke, 56, of Chicago, is the subject of an international warrant issued on July 9, 2010, by the Daegu District Court of the Republic of Korea. The Republic of Korea has requested that Burke be formally extradited to face charges of indecent acts through violence or intimidation against children under age 13, as contained in the Korean Criminal Act.