News Releases and Statements

Naxin Wu, 26, Mengying Jiang, 34, and Mingdong Chen, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court in Concord to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Judge Landya B. McCafferty scheduled Wu’s sentencing for April 8, 2025 and Jiang’s sentencing for April 22, 2025.

ICE officers from ERO San Francisco arrested Juan Velasquez-Francisco in Sacramento, California Jan. 23.

ICE's ERO Houston, with assistance from ERO Mexico and the SAFE Task Force, repatriated Nestor Flores Encarnacion, a 58-year-old undocumented alien, to his home country of Mexico Jan. 23.

Jose Molina-Herrera, 27, of Honduras, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. The court also ordered Molina-Herrera to forfeit $867,005, which are proceeds of the wire fraud offense.

The gold jewelry was imported by a U.S. wholesaler who provided false documents and statements to U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding its the country of manufacture to evade U.S. tariffs applicable to gold jewelry.

Monica Hernandez-Palma, also known as Moni, 32, a Mexican national, was arrested in Mexico pursuant to a U.S. request for her extradition and surrendered by Mexico to U.S. authorities on Jan. 16 to face charges.

James Oxley, 52, of Polk City, faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison for transporting child sex abuse material and up to 20 years in federal prison for the possession and AI offenses.

Timothy Siverd, 37, of Webster, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,00 fine, the U.S. District Court for the District of Western New York announced Jan. 16, 2025.

Jorge Hernan Gonzalez-Ortiz, 50, and Carlos Andres Aldana-Gil, 43, each faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

As alleged, the enterprise operated in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, using credit card “skimmers” that stole financial information from credit and debit cards to create “cloned” cards that were used to make fraudulent fuel purchases.

Gerber David Santos-Gonzalez, age 26, was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024. He was found guilty following a jury trial in October 2024.

The JRFCTF will focus on investigating and prosecuting criminal actors seeking to exploit the wildfire crisis.