News Releases and Statements

Julian Prezas, 37, from San Antonio was sentenced Nov. 2 by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia to 200 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and he must pay a $600 special assessment fee.  On Dec. 12, 2016, Prezas pleaded guilty to five counts of making a false statement during the purchase of firearms and one count of attempting to export into Mexico defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List without obtaining a license or written authorization.

In April 2017, following a four-day trial, Victor Manuel Solorzano, 32, of Dallas, was convicted of the following charges:  one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; two counts of assault of a federal officer; and two counts of using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Retired Lt. Col. Oscar Gomez Cifuentes, 53, was implicated in five killings in Colombia that allegedly occurred while he was the commander of Infantry Battalion 43 Efrain Rojas Acevedo.  These allegations relate to a disputed report stating that five persons were killed by the battalion during a confrontation at a Colombia ranch in November 2007.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris sentenced Manuel David Orozco, 42, to 120 months in prison, 10 years of supervised release, and a $5,100 special assessment. When he was arrested, Orozco was a Tier I sex offender, because he had been convicted of sex offenses against children in the state of Oregon.

Jerald Peter Dsouza, 58, a citizen of India, was arrested by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers after he was released from the Reeves County Detention Complex (RCDC) where he was serving a 10-year sentence for using the internet to induce a minor, who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Arturo Valladolid Jr., 43, from Laredo, was sentenced Oct. 31 by U.S. District Marina Garcia Marlolejo to 240 months in prison, and to a 10-year term of supervised release. Valladolid pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking charges Oct. 18, 2016.

An indictment against Omar Santiago-Muniz, 27, was unsealed Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Pennsylvania announced the charges of  producing child pornography, online enticement of a minor and transferring obscene material to a minor.

Ofracio Perez-Jose, 55, was escorted by ERO deportation officers to Santo Domingo, via a commercial flight, and transferred to the custody of Dominican law enforcement authorities.

According to the indictment, between 2009 and 2011, Harshinder Bhatia, 58, forced and threatened an Indian national woman to work causing her to believe that if she did not perform such labor and services, she would suffer serious harm.  The indictment charges that this crime involved aggravated sexual abuse and was furthered by Bhatia possessing the victim’s passport.

Acting Executive Associate Director Derek Benner led today’s briefing, where he announced that HSI’s Cyber Crimes Center will expand its efforts to offer investigative support and dark net training to state, local, and international partners. Benner also discussed plans to enhance training focused on illicit payment networks and financial transactions associated with fentanyl smuggling and distribution.

Guilber Noe Sevilla-Rozales, 28, was transferred to the custody of Honduran authorities by ICE officers at the Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The busy LaSalle U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center opened in the fall of 2007. Located in Jena, Louisiana, a town that covers about five square miles, it functions as an ICE-dedicated detention center with a maximum capacity of 1,320 beds.

Jacobo Leonel Orellana-Estrada, 21, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of possession with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin.

Rigoberto Gonzalez-Aragon, 66, was returned to Guatemala City, via an ICE Air Operations charter flight, and transferred to the custody of Guatemalan law enforcement authorities.

On Oct. 24, Garcia-Taveras was arrested by the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). ERO deportation officers were notified of the arrest by the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center, and arrested Garcia-Taveras in Newark, New Jersey, on the 2014 federal re-entry after deportation charges, which are currently pending in U.S. District Court. He is in U.S. Marshals Service custody.

Victor Leos, 63, of Garland, Texas, pleaded guilty in May 2017 to one count of conspiracy to commit false statements in connection with immigration documents. Leos was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Jan. 28, 2018.

Adam Davis, 37, of Rockland, Maine, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to illegally importing the synthetic opioid U-47700, also known as “Pink” or “U4,” and to illegally possessing a firearm while being a user of a controlled substance.

Jaziel TIENDA-Ibarra, 30, was transferred to the custody of representatives from Mexico’s Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) and Mexican immigration officials by ERO Special Response Team (SRT) officers at the Nogales DeConcini Port of Entry.

On April 19, Yi Lee, 44, and his following five co-defendants were indicted and charged with participating in a conspiracy to commit marriage fraud: Chia-Jung Chang, 39; Dan Zheng, 33; Lian Xiang Deng, 42; and Xiao-Yin Le, 50, all Chinese nationals illegally in the United States; and Santiago Aveles, 31, of Las Cruces.

According to documents filed in the case, in December 2016 and February 2017, Sebastian Contreras, 22, of Brownwood, Texas, used the internet to download images of child pornography depicting girls under the age of 18 years engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Contreras will begin serving his prison sentence on Dec. 1.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the return of a collection of the artifact to the Italian Republic during a repatriation ceremony attended by the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Activities, & Tourism Dario Franceschini, the Ambassador of Italy to the U.S. Armando Varricchio, the Consul General of Italy in New York, Francesco Genuardi, and HSI Acting Deputy Assistant Director Anthony Scandiffio.

These individuals range from 19 to 62 years old and all were previously arrested or convicted of a variety of offenses. Some of the arrests and convictions included sexual assault of a minor, child abuse, criminal restraint of a minor, domestic violence, possession of narcotics, distribution of narcotics, robbery, receiving stolen property, theft, aggravated assault, hindering apprehension, resisting officer, DUI, unsworn falsification, possession of a weapon, burglary, prostitution and illegal reentry into the U.S.

ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.  Depending on the alien’s criminal history, an alien who illegally reenters the United States, after having been previously removed, has committed a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

Luis Alexander Zaldivar-Ramos, 23, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to eight months in federal prison. Zaldivar-Ramos was previously convicted of a criminal felony and deported on two prior occasions. Julio Cesar Ontiveros-Tafolla, 30, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to time served, which equated to five and half months. Ontiveros-Tafolla had previously been removed to Mexico three times and will now be deported for the fourth time.