News Releases and Statements

ERO officers had lodged a detainer June 19 with Montgomery County Detention Center on Rene Atilio Ramos-Hernandez, 56, an unlawfully present citizen of El Salvador and a convicted criminal alien, following his recent arrest for sexual abuse of a minor.

The indictment alleges Jose Sergio Martinez-Aguilar, 39; Vladimir Pulstilinkov, 44; Miguel Lovos, 31; Sebastian Ramos, 29; and Ricardo Ruiz-Salinas, 43; were members of an international drug trafficking organization. The government charges Martinez-Aguilar of Thermal, California; and Lovos of Indio, California, with three counts of narcotics conspiracy and one count of firearms possession in connection with drug trafficking. Pulstilinkov, also of Indio, is charged with two counts of narcotics conspiracy and one count of firearms possession in connection with drug trafficking. Ramos and Ruiz-Salinas, both of Brooklyn, New York, each are charged with one count of narcotics conspiracy.

Turhan Lemont Armstrong, 50, of Northridge, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who also ordered him to pay $3,305,609 in restitution. Judge Klausner also has ordered the forfeiture of two homes – one in Northridge, the other in Perris – purchased with illicit funds obtained from the scheme.

There are approximately 302,502 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently onboard the Bella, approximately 302,522 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently onboard the Bering, approximately 259,700 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently onboard the Luna, and approximately 298,484 barrels of Iranian gasoline currently onboard the Pandi.

According to court documents, Richard Stephen Terry, 56, of Tampa, used the Internet to entice adult women to allow him to engage in sexual activities with their minor children. Agents identified Terry in multiple online chat rooms designed for individuals who are interested in the sexual exploitation of children, and he used the chat rooms to meet and discuss their interests and tactics.

Bryan C. Mileikis, 33, of Bourne, Massachusetts, was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Mileikis made an initial appearance via videoconference in federal court July 1.

Michael John Suppes, 46, of Weld County, Colorado, willfully engaged in the business of manufacturing and dealing in firearms and is not a licensed firearm dealer or manufacturer. He exported firearm parts to buyers in other countries without obtaining an export license and he possessed short-barreled rifles that were not registered under the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record as required by law.

On June 18, 2020, MS-13 gang member Alexander Martinez-Flores, a.k.a. “Pocar,” was sentenced in the Northern District of California to 30 years of incarceration for using a firearm to cause murder, conspiracy to commit murder and extortion, and racketeering conspiracy. Martinez, 29, is a citizen of El Salvador.

Ramces Chavez-Gomez, 48, from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo, Southern District of Texas, to 72 months in federal prison.

J. Guadalupe Martinez-Montelongo, 48, from Mexico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo, Southern District of Texas, to 63 months in federal prison. On March 3, Martinez-Montelongo plead guilty to the meth charges.

Chao “Edwin” Chen (陈超), 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James V. Selna. Chen pleaded guilty in June 2016 to visa fraud, marriage fraud and filing a false tax return. Soon after pleading guilty, Chen fled to China and remains a fugitive.

Javier Guerrero-Garcia, 23, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. In his plea, Guerrero-Garcia admitted that he fired a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun into a residence early in the morning of Nov. 19, 2017.

Rian Harold Ishikawa, 42, of Kailua, was charged with one count of producing child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography.

Infraud was an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition, sale, and dissemination of stolen identities, compromised debit and credit cards, personally identifiable information, financial and banking information, computer malware, and other contraband.

Unlawfully present Mexican national Israel Calderon-Morales, 22, was escorted June 26 from the Coastal Bend Detention Center in Robstown, Texas, to the Laredo, Texas, Port-of-Entry where he was presented to Mexican law enforcement authorities.

As the result of a probe by ICE's HSI Los Angeles, the U.S. Secret Service and the Glendale Police Department, Mikayel Hmayakyan, 43, pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Ehab Sadeek, 47, who resides in Winchester, Massachusetts, was indicted June 29 by a Corpus Christi grand jury on charges of online solicitation of a minor, travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and transfer of obscene materials to a minor.

Das Neves, who illegally entered the U.S. at an undetermined time and location, also has a conviction in 2014 for disorderly conduct.

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.

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.

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

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.