News Releases and Statements

Katrina (Katie) Lynn Danforth, 32, of Post Falls, Idaho, pled guilty this week to two counts of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire.

ICE's ERO removed Martha Valencia-Gutierrez, 50, a Spanish national, wanted in her home country on narcotics trafficking charges.

The indictment alleges that between on-or-about May 2018 and November 2018, the organization distributed cocaine, crack, heroin, and marijuana, all within the real property comprising the Villa Evangelina Public Housing Project located in the Municipality of Manatí.

Geovani Hernandez, 45, a former South Texas police officer from Weslaco, Texas, was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in federal prison following his cocaine-trafficking conviction in March.

Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known by various aliases, including “El Chapo” and “El Rapido,” was sentenced today by United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan to life imprisonment plus 30 years to run consecutive to the life sentence for being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise – the Mexican organized crime syndicate known as the Sinaloa Cartel – a charge that includes 26 drug-related violations and one murder conspiracy. The Court also ordered Guzman Loera to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture.

Pursuant to an investigation by ICE’s HSI New York, Hema Patel, 51, a Texas-based bail bondswoman, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for her role in smuggling hundreds of illegal aliens into the United States.

The weeklong operation, which concluded yesterday, was conducted throughout San Diego county by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in San Diego.

A five-count superseding indictment was unsealed Friday in federal court in Brooklyn charging R&B singer “R. Kelly” with racketeering predicated on criminal conduct including sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, forced labor and Mann Act violations involving the coercion and transportation of women and girls in interstate commerce to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Recording artist Robert Sylvester Kelly, also known as “R. Kelly,” was arrested Thursday following his indictment on federal child pornography and obstruction charges.

Daniel Vivas Ceron, 38, of Colombia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alice R. Senechal in Fargo, ND, to continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues resulting in serious bodily injury and death, and money laundering.

Abdulaziz Salem Al Balawi, 25, was sentenced to 24 months incarceration.

Joseph Richard Caruso, 34, a prolific darknet narcotics vendor residing in Lake Oswego, Oregon, was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for illegally distributing fentanyl that was linked to a 2017 fatal overdose in Wisconsin.

The individual, Arash Vakhshouri, 40, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was charged by the grand jury with submitting false documents to a government agency and aggravated identity theft and will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.

The Independence Day fireworks display and Boston Pops orchestra concert celebration, held annually alongside the Charles River on the Boston Esplanade in Boston, is a nationally-televised public event designated as a Level 2 event under the Department’s Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) system which determines the risk level of public events that may be considered as potential threat targets.

Vincent Paul Ingolia, 45, of Meridian, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 120 months in federal prison for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, Special Agent in Charge Brad Bench of ICE's HSI Seattle Field Office and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. 

Shawn Thomas Conaway, 45, of Baker City, Oregon, was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to 60 months in federal prison for attempted travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, Special Agent in Charge Brad Bench of ICE’s HSI Seattle Field Office and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.

Thomas Close is awaiting trial on charges of production of child pornography related to his alleged surreptitious recording of boys changing after swimming as part of Boy Scout activities. Close, 40, lived in Richland County. He was known as “Aqua Joe” because he worked with the Boy Scouts of America, often with their swimming program.

ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.

Among these 37 individuals were 35 convicted criminals, who traveled via a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) ICE Air Operations flight from Dallas, Texas to their home country.

Two Dominican nationals wanted for murder and manslaughter in their home country were removed Tuesday by officers with ICE's ERO Philadelphia. ERO previously removed one of the individuals in 2011.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) oversees two types of practical training program for international students, curricular practical training (CPT) and optional practical training (OPT). The two programs, however, have different requirements and purposes. As a result, the two training programs are not interchangeable.

Officers with ICE ERO assisted the USMS lead fugitive task force and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in yesterday’s arrest of Rodolfo Navarro-Salgado.

Michael Cerdas Molina was convicted of sexual assault against a minor in Costa Rica in 2016 and sentenced to six years imprisonment. However, he absconded to the United States in March 2017, prior to serving his sentence, using a valid nonimmigrant visa that was issued to him in 2010. He failed to depart the United States in accordance with the terms of his admission, which rendered him removable under U.S. immigration law.

The enforcement statistics from January-March 2019 illustrate that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is committed to arresting and removing unlawfully present aliens, with criminal histories, who threaten public safety and endanger immigrant communities.