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June 26, 2020
|Enforcement and Removal

Joe Toro-Zaldivar, 36, is a repeat immigration violator and citizen of Honduras in the United States illegally. He was charged by the Lake County Sheriff's Department with assault on a peace officer, strangulation, felony menacing with a weapon, disarming an officer, three charges of assault, criminal mischief and resisting arrest March 29, 2019.

June 25, 2020
|Transnational Gangs

The 69-count indictment includes five counts of attempted gang assault in the first degree, 14 counts of attempted assault in the first degree, 31 counts of second-degree assault, two counts of Attempted Assault in the second degree, fourth and fifth-degree conspiracy, 16 counts of third-degree assault, and attempted assault in the third degree.

June 25, 2020
|Child Exploitation
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Luna Pixel, a two-year-old Labrador Retriever is now assigned to the Colorado Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) task force.

June 25, 2020
|Enforcement and Removal

ICE's ERO recently removed convicted felon, Manuel Garcia Velasco, 58, from the United States to Mexico via ICE Air Operations (IAO) charter, June 23.

June 25, 2020
|Enforcement and Removal

Martin Triana-Perez, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to three years in federal prison without parole. Illegally reentering the U.S. after being lawfully removed (deported) is a felony under U.S. law. On Oct. 9, 2019, Triana-Perez pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States after deportation, subsequent to a felony conviction.

June 25, 2020
|Child Exploitation

Bryan Lee Thieme, 39, of Twin Falls, was sentenced to 200 months in federal prison for sexual exploitation of children, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) acting Special Agent in Charge Eben Roberts and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also imposed lifetime supervised release to follow Thieme’s prison sentence.

June 24, 2020
|Enforcement and Removal

Roberto Garcia-Madrigal, 47, turned himself into police June 3 after a warrant for his arrest was issued by a judge in Weber County for charges of rape, sodomy and aggravated sexual abuse of a child. The detainer, filed in St. George, was issued in response to his arrest.

June 24, 2020
|Child Exploitation

Raul E. Villalva, aka Isabelle Villalva, a biological male who identifies as a female (transgender woman), 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 20 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography.

June 24, 2020
|Labor Exploitation

Robert James, CFO for Speed Fab-Crete in Kennedale, Texas, was sentenced to three months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $69,000 fine for bringing in and harboring illegal aliens.

June 24, 2020
|Covid-19, Enforcement and Removal
As part of ICE's proactive efforts to expand COVID-19 testing capabilities, ICE began offering voluntary testing June 9 to all current detainees and new admissions at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado.
June 23, 2020
|Enforcement and Removal

ICE ERO officers removed Luc Emond, 60, a Canadian citizen wanted in his home country for weapons violations.

June 23, 2020
|Child Exploitation
Jessie C. Comeaux, 37, of Kaplan, Louisiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael J. Juneau, to 87 months in custody. Following his federal prison term, Comeaux will be required to serve eight years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender in any state in which he lives or works.
June 23, 2020
|Child Exploitation

Curtis James McGarvey, 52, of Bismarck, North Dakota, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland. In addition, McGarvey was sentenced to serve 10 years supervised release following his prison term, and was ordered to pay nearly $5,000 in restitution to the victim’s family.

June 19, 2020
|Human Smuggling/Trafficking

The website CityXGuide.com – a leading source of online advertisements for prostitution and sex trafficking that users described as "taking over from where Backpage left off" – has been seized and its owner charged in a 28-count federal indictment.

June 19, 2020
|Enforcement and Removal
Pedro Antonio Eguizabal Gonzalez, 45, is a Salvadoran national wanted by law enforcement authorities in his native country for kidnapping with aggravated circumstances, robbery and illegal association.
June 19, 2020
|Child Exploitation

The indictment filed with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York charges Thomas Blaha, 64, with traveling to the Philippines with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, sexual exploitation of a child, distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

June 19, 2020
|Narcotics

Justin Williams, 30, of Hattiesburg, was sentenced June 18, 2020, to 84 months in federal prison by Senior U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Following his prison term, Williams must serve five years of supervised release.

June 18, 2020
|Financial Crimes
Former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen pleaded guilty today in Maricopa County Superior Court to running an adoption fraud scheme that involved bringing pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to the U.S. to give birth, fraudulently billing those medical expenses to Arizona taxpayers.
June 18, 2020
|Child Exploitation

Micky Rife, 36, formerly of Salyersville, Kentucky, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove. In his plea agreement, Rife admitted that between Sept. 3, 2012, and Dec. 9, 2018, he traveled in foreign commerce, and between March 7, 2013, and Dec. 9, 2018, he resided in Cambodia, and that during those periods of time, he touched two minor females under their clothing and inside or on their genital areas on more than one occasion. He further admitted that both minor victims were under the age of 12 when the illicit conduct occurred.

June 18, 2020
|Financial Crimes

Jorge Juan Torres-Lopez, 66, who served as the interim governor of Coahuila, Mexico, in 2011, admitted to conducting financial transactions in the United States to conceal bribes that he received in exchange for assigning road-building contracts in Coahuila.

June 17, 2020
|Child Exploitation

Lafayette, Louisiana, resident Jared Tyler Olivier, 24, was sentenced to 80 months in federal prison June 10, 2020, after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana to transportation of child pornography. The sentencing follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New Orleans.

June 17, 2020
|Narcotics

Dylan Lee Hooks, 24, was sentenced June 15, 2020, to a total of 77 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of distribution of a controlled substance that contained methamphetamine. According to court documents, in the fall of 2019, detectives with the 18th JDEDTF launched an investigation into Hooks for drug trafficking in the Western District of Arkansas.

June 17, 2020
|Operational

Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, 33, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is currently in federal custody and had her initial appearance in federal court yesterday. The government will be filing a motion for the defendant to be detained pending trial.

June 17, 2020
|Child Exploitation

Dagoberto Duarte Espinal, 23, an illegally-present citizen of Honduras, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire on June 17. Duarte, who has an active final order of removal issued against him, will face removal from the United States pending completion of his sentence.

June 16, 2020
|Labor Exploitation, Covid-19

On March 19 due to precautions implemented by employers and employees associated with COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would exercise prosecutorial discretion to defer the physical presence requirements associated with the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) under section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This provision, as explained in the guidance below, was implemented for 60 days and was set to expire on May 19.

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