News Releases and Statements

According to court documents, Ezennia Peter Neboh, 48, who was sentenced to 128 months of incarceration, was the lead defendant of a group of fraudsters who sent personalized letters to elderly victims in the United States, falsely claiming that the sender was a representative of a bank in Spain and that the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left for the recipient by a family member who had died years before in Portugal.

James Dooly Pollock, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court on July 13, 2022, to production of a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

ERO New York City’s Long Island Fugitive Operations and New York City Special Response Team arrested the noncitizen outside of his residence in Queens without incident. He will remain in custody pending removal proceedings.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law.

According to court documents, Jesus Menjibar Salinas, 20, was arrested by Border Patrol agents east of Sierra Blanca on Oct. 3. An affidavit filed in a criminal complaint alleges that Salinas possessed a cellphone with photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse material stored within the device and in a messaging application.

Carma de Monterrey SA de CV, a Mexican corporation headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, and the defendants admitted they conspired to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business on behalf of foreign patrons of the casino industry.

Juan Martinez Merida had been detained at the U.S. border at least seven times and allowed voluntary departure. On an unknown date and at an unknown location, Martinez entered the United States without admission or parole by an immigration official.

The Peruvian national unlawfully entered the United States at an unknown place on an unknown date without being admitted or inspected by an immigration official. USBP encountered the noncitizen in March 2022 and issued him a notice to appear before a DOJ immigration judge.

The Venezuelan national, 38, failed to disclose his previous homicide conviction to U.S. Border Patrol officials when they arrested him for unlawfully entering the United States in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 31.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law – all individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

HSI Frederick joined with other federal, state and local enforcement agencies Oct. 26 to recognize officially the creation of a new Interagency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking Task Force (INTERCEPT) in Frederick.

ERO New York City arrested Neftali Caal-Chocoj, a 50-year-old citizen of Guatemala, who was convicted of rape in the second degree: sexual intercourse with another person who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally disabled.

ERO Houston, with assistance from ERO Mexico and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, removed Benito Granillo San Agustin, a 37-year-old unlawfully present Mexican national, from the U.S. on Oct. 30.

The repatriation included myriad artifacts, such as ancient books and manuscripts, coins, paintings, statues and sculptures, an ammonite fossil and a Greco-Roman bronze helmet.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law. All individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

HSI Frederick provided vital assistance to Maryland law enforcement authorities Oct. 26 during a search for Pedro Manuel Argote, the prime suspect in the murder of Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson.

In 2022, authorities seized more than 180,000 counterfeit sports-related items worth an estimated $22.7 million through Operation Team Player, a collaborative public-private sector operation targeting international shipments of counterfeit merchandise into the United States with brand owners and e-commerce marketplaces.

Deportation officers from ERO Washington’s Criminal Apprehensions Program removed Jose Fredis Carranza del Cid, 29, from the United States to El Salvador on Oct. 27.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law. All individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

ERO Boston arrested a previously removed, unlawfully present 39-year-old Brazilian national in Concord on Oct. 25. Local police have repeatedly charged the suspect with violent crimes.

Craig Allen Rhoden, 55, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Rhoden to pay $150,000 in restitution to 30 victims and serve 15 years on supervised release following his incarceration.

ERO Chicago Field Office Director LaDeon Francis and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin Timothy M. O’Shea announced that Andre Bowyer, 32, a citizen of Jamaica, was sentenced Oct. 26 by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 21 months in federal prison for illegally reentering the United States. Bowyer pleaded guilty to this charge on Aug. 16. 

U.S. District Court Judge Aida Delgado-Colon sentenced Angel Gabriel Diaz-Rosado, a youth basketball coach from Toa Baja, to 15 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release. HSI special agents arrested Diaz-Rosado in 2019 after he was charged with attempted production of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of minors, and transfer of obscene material to a minor.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law. All individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Hainze Diaz Arroyo, known in the music industry as Hanzel la H, with firearms violations. Diaz Arroyo was arrested on July 10 for violating his federal supervised release and has remained detained since his arrest.