News Releases and Statements

Cleotilde Puac-Gomez, 46, a citizen of Guatemala who is illegally residing in the U.S. in Clarion, Iowa, was sentenced to two months in federal prison after pleading guilty Feb. 6, 2019, to one count of theft of U.S. government funds.

The indictment alleges that Andres Santos, 37, in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, in Luzerne County, Santos used the social security account number and other identification information of another person and misrepresented his citizenship status in order to obtain Medicaid Medical Assistance benefits and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in an amount over $1000.00 each, to which he was not entitled

Daniel Cabanillas, 49, was sentenced in federal court to 2 years’ probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Fifty people are now in law enforcement custody following last week’s return of a 206-count indictment criminally charging 96 people for their alleged roles in a large-scale marriage fraud scheme. 

According to the indictment, Erika Paola Intriago, 44, of Tampa, who is not a licensed attorney, fraudulently portrayed herself as an immigration attorney offering immigration-related services on social media targeting persons from Spanish-speaking countries seeking immigration-related services.

Eleven of the targets were arrested pursuant to federal arrest warrants issued in the District of Massachusetts for charges of aggravated identity theft and misuse of a Social Security Number; the final target was arrested on probable cause for the same violations.

According to court documents, in 2007, Alain Nezius, 36, was removed to Haiti following multiple convictions for possession of cocaine, delivery of cocaine, and possession of cocaine with the intent to sell or deliver it.

Pal Singh, a/k/a “Surinder Singh,” a/k/a “Harpal Singh,” 67, an Indian national, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas to an information charging him with one count of attempted naturalization fraud.

Baltazar Arrieta-Lara, 52, a resident of Rusk County, Texas, pleaded guilty April 2 to making a false statement in a passport application before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell.

Bakary Camara, 32, bribed his co-conspirator Henry Gibbs (a former PennDOT agent) in order to unlawfully obtain Pennsylvania learner’s permits and non-commercial and commercial driver’s licenses for foreign nationals and others. Some of the individuals for whom the defendant assisted in getting a driver’s license did not speak English and could not pass the DMV knowledge tests.

The indictments charge operators and clients of three “maternity house” or “birthing house” schemes that were dismantled in March 2015 when federal agents executed 35 search warrants, which resulted from international undercover operations.

On Feb. 5, 2018, Naif Abdulaziz M. Alfallaj, 35, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, was taken into custody by the FBI without incident, based on a criminal complaint signed in the Western District of Oklahoma. According to the complaint, the FBI found 15 of Alfallaj’s fingerprints on an application to an al Qaeda training camp, known as al Farooq, which was one of al Qaeda’s key training sites in Afghanistan.

Andreea Dumitru, a/k/a “Andreea Dumitru Parcalaboiu,” an immigration attorney based in Queens, New York, was found guilty Nov. 19 in Manhattan federal court of asylum fraud, making false statements to immigration authorities, and aggravated identity theft.

Federico Garcia Jr., 44, who had worked for the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at the ports of entry in the 1990s, faces up to 20 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to defrauding numerous legal and illegal aliens.

Lucas Hernandez-Torres, 47, pleaded guilty to the charges on April 25, 2017, and is awaiting sentencing, and faces a maximum penalty under federal law of 10 years imprisonment.

Nineteen foreign nationals were charged with unlawfully voting in the 2016 elections Friday, and a U.S. citizen was charged with aiding and abetting an alien to falsely claim U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

Armen Simonyan, 44, who was free on bond in the narcotics-trafficking case, was arrested after being named in a two-count indictment returned today by a federal grand jury.

Co-defendant Amna Cheema, 38, a Pakistani national, previously pleaded guilty to her role in the scheme and was sentenced to time served.

Matthew Ryan Johnston, 26 of Fontana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson for possession of an unregistered destructive device. 

The indictment alleges that Mexican farmworkers were charged illegal fees for transportation, room and board after the company arranging for the workers’ visas promised the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that the workers had not paid and would not have to pay for these expenses. In addition, the indictment alleges that the farmworkers were made to pay fees to obtain their visas, which is prohibited under the H-2A visa program.

Eleno Quinteros, 46, of Chula Vista, Calif. previously admitted falsely certifying that he had received no payments from the mechanics, when in fact he had demanded and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars of unlawful fees from approximately 85 of them.