News Releases and Statements

A San Juan resident, Zairo Ramos, was found guilty in federal court Tuesday of production of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). From May through June 2010, Ramos induced a female minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing still and video images...

"Nearly 400 businesses in the Boston-area have partnered with ICE by joining the agency's employment compliance program IMAGE, or ""ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers."" During fiscal year (FY) 2011, ICE reached 359 businesses in the Boston area with presentations about IMAGE."

Aaron P. Winchester, 36, of Wildwood, faces a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison, up to a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.

A federal jury found a Brazilian woman residing in Orlando guilty of alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and worker visa fraud on Monday, following an investigation that began with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The owners of Aquila Farms, LLC, were sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay fines totaling $234,000 for hiring illegal aliens and aiding and abetting each other to do so. The convictions of Johannes Martinus Verhaar and Anthonia Marjanne Verhaar were the result of an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.

A Georgia couple accused of harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage and then laundering the proceeds was arrested Friday following an investigation by ICE's HSI, the FBI, the IRS' Criminal Investigations Division and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

A Togo national, convicted of assault of a foreign official, was deported on Monday and turned over to Togolese law enforcement officials by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers.

Law enforcement agencies across the globe work tirelessly to end child exploitation, but they can't do it alone. They rely on assistance from private sector companies to successfully accomplish their mission.

Robert J. Fortier of Rogers, Ark., was sentenced to 25 years in prison for production of child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Rogers Police Department. The defendant used his cell phone to capture images of a minor posed in sexually explicit ways and in various stages of undress.

Two Mexican nationals and a resident of Laredo were sentenced on Tuesday to federal prison for conspiring to smuggle assault rifles into Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.

A Texas man was sentenced to six years and nine months in federal prison on Tuesday for possession with intent to distribute about 36 kilograms (79 pounds) of cocaine.

Gregory Lynn Garner, 40, admitted at his hearing to transferring obscene material between Feb. 23 and March 10. The obscene material consisted of images of his genitalia and him engaging in sexual acts with an adult. Garner was arrested on a federal indictment on July 29 after surrendering to authorities with the assistance of his attorney.

A Knoxville general contractor partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become the first Tennessee business to join the ICE IMAGE program, which is aimed at reducing fraud and the hiring of illegal workers.

Tricia Griffith, 37, formerly of Niagara Falls, N.Y., admitted taking her child from a residence in Niagara Falls to Jamaica in June 2010. The defendant left the area without the knowledge of the child's father and in violation of a court order of custody issued previously by a Niagara County Supreme Court judge.

A Canadian woman who was arrested at the U.S.-Canada border, and who pleaded guilty to drug and firearm violations, was sentenced Friday to 18 months in federal prison.

David B. Twitty, 64, of Hyattsville, Md., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus. Judge Titus also ordered that upon his release from prison, Twitty must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

Jeffrey Price, 47, of Riverton, Ill., was convicted Nov. 4 by a federal jury, after two hours of deliberation, on one count of producing and one count of possessing child pornography. He was indicted in November 2009 following his arrest on Oct. 22, 2009 on a federal criminal complaint.

Robert Davis Williams, 45, pleaded guilty on March 14.

A citizen of El Salvador, who once waded the Rio Grande to illegally re-enter the United States, was sentenced Friday to 15 months in federal prison for illegal re-entry in a case investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Two defendants, Malcolm Jamal Allen and Devon Leontae Sutton, who previously pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a multi-agency probe into a gang-run sex trafficking scheme involving underage girls, have each been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A federal grand jury in Maryland has indicted six people in connection with a conspiracy to distribute marijuana as part of the Brown Organization, a criminal network whose members allegedly engaged in narcotics distribution primarily in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona and Jamaica.

Wesley William Brandt was sentenced to 90 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. This sentence is the result of an investigation conducted by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).He threatened and coerced a 13-year-old girl from Colorado online to produce sexually explicit photographs of herself and her sister.

A man from Mexico was sentenced on Friday to 10.5 years in federal prison without parole for smuggling nearly three tons of marijuana, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

A masterpiece work of art - 'Christ Carrying the Cross' - stolen as part of the widespread Nazi plunder of World War II, was seized this week by U.S. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The painting was seized through formal legal proceedings, to protect the art until its real ownership is finally confirmed.