News Releases and Statements

HSI Brazil, receiving information from the PF’s Child Pornography/Exploitation and Hate Crimes Unit in May 2020, coordinated efforts targeting subscribers of the website in the United States and other countries. The Brazil-based ‘child modeling’ website is alleged to contain child exploitation material widely distributed via the dark web.

Adolfo Aburto-Gonzalez, 24, is scheduled for sentencing Aug. 24, before United States District Judge Rosemary Márquez.

John Milton Lee, 62, of Las Vegas, Nevada, is scheduled for sentencing on August 3, before United States District Judge James A. Soto. 

Rolando Eduardo Ballagan Enriquez entered the U.S. at an unknown date and time. He was convicted in Ecuador April 1, 2016 by the Judge of the Second Court of Criminal Guarantees of Canar in Ecuador for rape and sentenced in absentia to 29 years, four months in prison.

Oscar S. Acuna, Jr., 35, of Tucson, Arizona, is scheduled to be sentenced July 12, before a United States District Judge.

A California man, residing in Atlanta, Georgia, was indicted Tuesday for smuggling cash into Mexico from the United States, following an investigation conducted by ICE's HSI with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol, RGV Sector.

A south Texas federal jury returned two separate and unrelated indictments which involve transporting and/or smuggling of large groups of noncitizens via tractor trailers, following an investigation conducted by ICE's HSI with the assistance of the U.S. Border Patrol, Laredo Sector.

Individuals arrested were Akber Jesani, 39, and Hardin Ameena, 28, both residents of Sugarland, Texas, and Shamshuddin Dosani, 52-year-old resident of Richmond, Texas. All three are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, aggregate theft, and money laundering in violation of Texas law. The Harris County (Texas) District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting all three individuals.

Sergio Bustos-Cruz, 31, was indicted on two counts for A South Texas grand jury returned a two-count indictment for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.

On May 13, Milton Portillo Rodriguez, a/k/a “Little Gangster,” a/k/a “Seco,” age 26, was sentenced to serve life in federal prison for a racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, as well as related violent crimes in aid of racketeering, including three murders, connected to his participation in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also known as MS-13.

The subterranean passageway, stretching from Tijuana, Mexico to a warehouse in Otay Mesa, California just east of the port of entry, is estimated to be about 1,744 feet long, 61 feet deep and 4-feet in diameter, with reinforced walls, a rail system, electricity, and a ventilation system.

Mauricio Ruiz, a 41-year-old resident of Alice, Texas, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender and serve the rest of his life on supervised release following completion of his prison term during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Restitution will be determined at a later date.

Isaiah Lorenzo Brinkley, 21, of Phoenix, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 75 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Brinkley previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport noncitizens for profit, placing life in jeopardy and resulting in death.

Gerardo Jimenez, 30, from Pharr, Texas, plead guilty May 11 for smuggling heroin and methamphetamines.

Fernando Cristancho, age 65, of Bel Air, Maryland, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison followed by lifetime supervised release, on May 11, for coercion and enticement of a minor who he met through the church to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Roderick DeWayne Chisley, 47, of Monroe, Louisiana, was convicted May 11, following a three-day trial. The jury deliberated for over three hours before convicting Chisley.

Those seeking social visitation will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and temperature checked; sick or symptomatic individuals will not be admitted into facilities for the purpose of social visitation. Additionally, detainees and visitors will be required to exercise proper hand hygiene pre- and post-visit and wear appropriate face coverings and other applicable personal protective equipment (as described by the CDC) at all times within facilities.

Andres Antonio Ponce, 22, from San Antonio, was sentenced May 10 in federal court to 235 months in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Ponce pleaded guilty April 15, 20

The jury convicted Aurelio Barajas-Pulido, 52, a legal permanent resident, for human smuggling following a one-day trial. The jury deliberated for approximately four hours before convicting Barajas-Pulido.

On January 24, 2022, a federal jury convicted Sorto Romero of the racketeering charges, along with co-defendants Jose Joya Parada, a/k/a “Calmado,” age 21, Milton Portillo-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Little Gangster,” age 26; and Juan Carlos Sandoval-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Picaro,” age 24, after a three-month trial. Portillo-Rodriguez and Sandoval-Rodriguez were also convicted of multiple counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

The indictment alleges that from a date unknown until April 8, Mexican nationals Olegario Lares-De La Rosa, 29, and Ivan Heriberto Borboa-Ruiz, 28, conspired together to detain two undocumented noncitizens in order to compel family members to pay money as a condition for their release.

An investigation headed by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia field office led to the arrest of a former Liberian rebel general on May 5. Agents from HSI Philadelphia arrested Laye Sekou Camara, a/k/a “K-1,” a/k/a “Dragon Master,” 43, of Mays Landing, NJ, who has been indicted on the charge of use of an immigration document obtained by fraud.

Hosted by HSI Resident Agent in Charge Arturo Napolitano, the ceremony included an awards presentation to officers with the CPD and HCSO for their work on several large-scale child exploitation cases, including one that crossed multiple state lines and involved more than a dozen victims.

The IPR Center, working collaboratively with its public and private sector partners, stands at the forefront of the United States government's response to combatting global intellectual property theft and enforcing intellectual property rights violations.

On May 4, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment against Mario Alberto Molina, 25, from McAllen. According to court documents, the complaint originally filed in the case, CBP performed a routine inspection of an inbound package originating from Brazil in Miami, Florida. The charges allege the package was purported to be marked as natural dye for tie-dye purposes, but authorities allegedly discovered a powdery substance later determined to be 4.5 kilograms of DMT.