News Releases and Statements

Ulysses Rubalcava, 34, of Weslaco, pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 2023, and was sentenced Feb. 20. At the hearing, the court noted his remorse, but explained how society deems these crimes as particularly heinous and that the court must protect children and the public to deter this type of crime.

HSI Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger, acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram made the announcement.

Dominick Nardone, 45, of Orlando, was previously convicted of a child sexual exploitation offense. He now faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years and up to 20 years in federal prison.

ICE ERO Houston arrested six noncitizen sex offenders, including three noncitizens, convicted of child sex offenses during a nationwide law enforcement effort that netted 275 noncitizens that ran from Feb. 5 to Feb. 16.

Saoud Al Naimi, 21, who was in the United States on a student visa and attending a local college, was ordered by the court to forfeit three iPhones, an iPad Pro and a MacBook, which were used in the commission of the offense. Al Naimi was also ordered to register as a sex offender. Al Naimi entered a guilty plea on August 22, 2023.

ICE ERO officers apprehended 275 unlawfully present noncitizen sex offenders during a nation-wide law enforcement effort that ran from February 5-16, 2024.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership met with the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University today as part of continuing agency efforts to engage with stakeholders across the immigration continuum.

Manuel Alejandro Soto-Bazan, 36, of Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane on Feb. 22 to serve 135 months in federal prison. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.

The Mexican citizen has previous felony convictions for forgery, fraud, larceny, residential burglary, theft and fleeing police. He has been removed from the United States four times.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership met with members of Just Futures Law today.

John W. Balch, 76, of Jacksonville, received the six-decade sentence Jan. 26 at the U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

Robert James Alden, a 37-year-old San Leon resident, was ordered to pay $22,000 in restitution to known victims and will serve 10 years on supervised release following completion of his prison term.

Jonen Castillo, 23, of Orlando, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. The indictment also notifies Castillo that the United States intends to forfeit a Smith and Wesson firearm and four Glock firearms, which are alleged to be involved in the offense.

Nicole Danielle Devilbiss, 35, of Jacksonville, faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

Illeysel Carcasses, a 38-year-old Cuban national, was convicted Feb. 15 in the Southern District of Texas of illegally transporting noncitizens in the back of a locked tractor trailer filled with rotting produce.

This transfer is the first of its kind from the United States to a foreign ally for the express purpose of assisting Ukraine, and the second time the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture has made confiscated Russian assets available for Ukraine — having provided $5.4 million in forfeited funds last year to the State Department for the support of Ukrainian war veterans. The confiscated funds are being transferred to Estonia since under current authorities, the facts of this case do not allow for a direct transfer to Ukraine.

ICE, a component agency of DHS, working in close coordination across the Department including with CBP, continued to facilitate removal flights of single adults and family units February 12 -18.

The HSI investigation revealed that from 2021 through 2022, a now-15-year-old minor living in Texas and another minor engaged in sexual intercourse and then sold videos and images of these sexual encounters on the internet through various internet-based social and messaging applications.

Manuel Ignacio Ley Villa, 54, was sentenced Feb. 14 to 255 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the judge noted Ley Villa had been previously convicted for the same offense.

Jeffery Wills, 39, was sentenced Feb. 14 to serve 135 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. At the hearing, the judge heard evidence that Wills served as a key player in handling narcotics imported from Mexico for distribution along the East Coast.

Deportation officers assigned to the ERO Laredo suboffice removed Alma De La Pena-Sanchez, 54, from the United States to Mexico on Feb. 15.

On Feb. 15, the USMS and HSI San Juan arrested Christopher Maldonado-Lopez and Christian Maldonado-Lopez, the final remaining fugitives from Operation Youngblood, in Newark, New Jersey.

ERO Baltimore apprehended a 23-year-old noncitizen who was convicted of an assault in Maryland in 2022.

Officials removed 110 packages from the vehicle with a total combined weight of 72.05 kilograms (158.8 pounds). The packages contained blue pills with “M30” markings, and the initial investigation determined the pills contained fentanyl.

Shaoyun Wang, 54, of China, and Mahmood Rashid Amur Al Habsi, 39, of Oman, were charged in a 12-count indictment unsealed Feb. 2 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.