News Releases and Statements

Anderson Morales-Calderon, 19, and Ever Morales-Calderon, 25, were arrested and charged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas with aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm as undocumented aliens.

Chad Michael Sadlowski, 34, of St. Johns, was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months, and was ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervised release. The court also ordered him to register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty in October 2024.

Jasmin Osteen, 27, of Jamestown, was sentenced to serve 144 months in prison, the U.S. District Court for the District of Western New York announced Feb. 4. She was previously convicted of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.

In total, more than 214,507 counterfeit items were seized, including jerseys, t-shirts, hats, jewelry, and various other memorabilia. Since its launch in 2013, Operation Team Player has seized more than $455 million in counterfeit sports merchandise and apparel, making it the largest anti-counterfeiting initiative within the federal government.

Colin John Thomas Walker, 23, of Bridgeton, New Jersey, and Clint Jordan Lopaka Nahooikaika Borge, 41, of Pahoa, Hawaii, were arrested pursuant to a grand jury indictment charging them with one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise. They are expected to make initial court appearances later today in New Jersey and Hawaii. Two additional defendants, Rohan Sandeep Rane, 28, of Antibes, France, and Kaleb Christopher Merritt, 24, of Spring, Texas, were also charged in the indictment.

The goal of this operation was to arrest individuals perpetrating access device fraud through unauthorized cash withdrawals from victim Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

HSI, in partnership with U.S. Border Patrol, FBI, ATF, DEA, and the El Paso Sheriff’s Office, arrested several criminal aliens during targeted enforcement actions in West Texas that began during the week of Jan. 20.

ICE removed Francisco Javier Melendez Torres, a citizen of El Salvador with a final order of removal, to El Salvador on Jan. 31. Melendez is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in El Salvador for aggravated rape of a minor and sexual harassment.

A Brazilian court convicted the criminal alien August 2015 of felony bank fraud and sentenced her to two years and eight months incarceration.

The indictment alleges that the Hoodstar Gzz gang, which since its forming in 2010 has referred to itself by a variety of names, including “Hoodstars,” “Hoodstarz,” and “Gz,” generally operates between Capen, Westland, Enfield, and Main Streets in Hartford.

ICE Dallas officers arrested Dennis Alexander Valenzuela, 37, an illegally present Guatemalan national wanted for murder in his home country.

Franklin Joseph Perkins, a 41-year-old resident of Alvin, Texas, who previously worked at the Kuk Sool Won martial arts studio and Gulf Coast Gymnastics in Alvin pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to receipt and possession of child sexual abuse materials.

Barry Grant Bevier, 61, of Wilmington, North Carolina, was charged by complaint with one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Alex Rafael Gonzalez-Morales, 35, of Honduras, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison if convicted. His trial is set for March 3, 2025.

ICE, with the assistance of the Needham Police Department, apprehended a foreign fugitive and criminal alien wanted in China for embezzlement, criminal conversion, fraud, and felony drug trafficking, during a targeted enforcement action, Jan. 23.

Gener Pop-Cuz, 20, was arrested Feb. 1, after the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections declined to honor ICE’s immigration detainer.

ICE apprehended an unlawfully present Guatemalan national convicted of driving under the influence when officers with ERO Atlanta’s MCAT arrested Miguel Andres-Mateo, 20, Jan. 21 in Cornelia, Georgia.

ICE arrested an unlawfully present Salvadorian national that was convicted of a robbery and kidnapping when officers arrested Juan Misael Canales-Garcia, 52, Jan. 23 after he was released by the Alabama Department of Corrections prison system, where he was serving time.

ICE removed Yermanny Suarez Laureano, a criminal alien from the Dominican Republic with a final order of removal, to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 23.

ICE removed Raymundo Rojas Bacilio, a citizen of Mexico with a final order of removal, to Mexico on Jan. 25.

ICE and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Luis Fernando Melendez-Rivera, 27, an illegally present Mexican national wanted for aggravated homicide in Mexico, in Denver, Colorado, January 31.

Jesus Jonathan Rodriguez, a 19-year-old Houston resident, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 42 months in prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release for carjacking.

Elmer Edin Chavarria-Morales, 32, of Honduras, to 3 years and 10 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States after deportation. Chavarria-Morales entered a guilty plea on Aug. 28, 2024.

David Araujo, 57, of St. Petersburg, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, up to life, in federal prison. Araujo is currently detained pending the resolution of the criminal case.

Oscar Manuel Inda-Duenas, 36, of Mexico, faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.