News Releases and Statements
News Releases and Statements
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
ICE ERO officers removed Luc Emond, 60, a Canadian citizen wanted in his home country for weapons violations.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Murder suspect Jorge Omar Alcantara-Gonzalez, 41, is a Mexican citizen who is in the United States illegally. On June 14, Alcantara-Gonzalez was arrested by the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Department, charged with murder, burglary, theft and a variety of other local charges in connection with the disappearance of Ian Eckles. Eckles, 41, has been missing out of Kent since mid-May.
In 2019, Vladimir Penda, a crew member who worked on board the shipping vessel MSC Gayane as the ship’s fourth engineer, conspired with others to engage in bulk cocaine smuggling.