News Releases and Statements

Hector Vasquez-Vasquez, 36, a citizen of Mexico illegally present in the United States and residing in Tama County, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea April 11, to one count of illegal reentry into the United States after having been removed.

Leatrice Malika DeBruhl-Daniels, 48, was convicted in the Southern District of Texas of obstructing justice, making false statements, and accepting money and gifts for official acts. A federal jury deliberated for less than three hours before convicting her following a six-day trial.

Guatemalan national Juan Lorenzo-Felipe, 25, was flown from Omaha, Nebraska, to La Aurora International Airport, Guatemala, on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to Guatemalan officials.

The policy was signed and implemented as directed by the 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

According to the HSI investigation, Travis James Muckelroy, 27, used a social media platform to develop online relationships with children. On various occasions in April and September of 2021, Muckelroy instructed a 13-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl to send him nude photographs or recordings of themselves engaging in sexual acts.

Juan Manuel Barajas-Magana, 35, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Katheriner Greer, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City area of operations, and Steven Russell, Acting United States Attorney, announced that Jonathan L. Traver, 30, of Omaha, was sentenced July 8 in federal court for possession of child exploitation material following an HSI, joint law enforcement probe.

Emigdio Gonzalez-Gamboa, 33, was arrested at his Anthony, New Mexico, home and charged with harboring undocumented noncitizens by members of the HSI El Paso Santa Teresa (New Mexico) Human Smuggling Group.

A Los Lunas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing with the intent to distribute 40 grams and more of fentanyl, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, May 31. Esteban Renteria III pleaded guilty to those charges, July 26.

Jonathan Enrique Bravo-Hernandez, 27, was removed on an ICE Air Operations aircraft. ICE deportation officers turned over Bravo-Hernandez to Guatemalan authorities upon arrival at the La Aurora International Airport.

A local businessman pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in federal court, June 9. San Diego resident Joe Sery, 77, the former owner and chief executive officer of Tungsten Heavy Powder & Parts, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit offenses against the United States, including the unlawful exportation of defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List from the United States to the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of India, and elsewhere, without first obtaining a valid license or approval for such export from the U.S. Department of State, in violation of federal export laws pursuant to the ITAR.

The new multi-agency coordination center, housed at the USCG Sector Houston-Galveston Headquarters in south Houston, will directly support the Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana ReCoM and be staffed with personnel from USCG, HSI, CBP and TSA.

Sergio Ruiz, 57, was convicted by a federal grand jury on one count each of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine, and importation of 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine into the United States.

Astro Rey De Leon, 33, was sentenced May 31 in federal court to 210 months in prison to include a lifetime of supervised release following the completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender. De Leon pleaded guilty Dec. 17, 2021.

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Luis Alberto Garza Cisneros, 33.

According to court documents, Edafe Onoetiyi, 34, of Nigeria, but living in Dallas, Texas; and Susan Johns, 54, of Bothwell, Washington, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Natchez, Mississippi.

Eddie Yenner Murphy Karpoleh was flown from Saint Paul to Liberia on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to Liberian officials.

Prior to the implementation of this directive, ICE has long recognized U.S. military service as a mitigating factor that is highly relevant in making case-by-case enforcement decisions. The new directive formalizes this practice as an official agency policy.

Border Patrol agents contacted HSI special agents, who located the child and the smuggler before they departed El Paso by bus. The child was reunited with her mother. The alleged smuggler, Rubye Ramos, 23, was arrested for transporting an undocumented noncitizen.

Salvadoran citizen Raul Antonio Lovo, aka Raul Brian Lovo, 34, who is wanted in El Salvador for rape against a minor, extortion and two charges of affiliation with a terrorist organization, was flown from Saint Paul, Minnesota to El Salvador on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, the fugitive was turned over to officials from El Salvador.

Angel Dominguez Ramirez, Jr., 50, a former U.S. Marine with dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, was sentenced in federal court June 1, to 195 months in prison for leading an international organization that transported large quantities of cocaine from South America to Mexico and into the United States.

During Operation Blue Ghost, HSI Kansas City and HSI KCCET partners conducted an undercover child exploitation operation in and around Wichita, Kansas, May 17 to June 2, resulting in the arrest of 32 individuals suspected of crimes against children.

Michael M. Rapa, 68, was sentenced June 2, to six years in prison for two counts of possession of prepubescent child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Federal authorities crack down on the illegal importation and sale of counterfeit sports apparel and entertainment products through Operation Team Player, a year-round effort developed by the IPR Center.

Cesar Omar Hita, 47, was taken into custody June 1 without incident on I-10 in front of a local shopping center after DPS was notified about a phone call from Hita, who threatened to commit robbery and murder.