News Releases and Statements

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.

ERO Boston apprehended an unlawfully present citizen of Guatemala Feb. 6 who is facing child molestation charges in Providence, Rhode Island.

HSI International Operations Assistant Director David J. Magdycz, and Haiti Minister of Justice Emmelie Prophete-Milcé, signed a memorandum of cooperation at HSI headquarters in Washington D.C., Feb. 13, to formally establish the Haiti Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit.

ERO Boston arrested a Brazilian national Feb. 9 in Saugus who’s being sought by law enforcement authorities in Brazil for failing to serve a three-year, nine-month prison sentence that followed his conviction of commercial theft/receiving stolen property.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership met with members of the American Immigration Council today.

MTC met with agency leadership as part of the agency’s ongoing commitment to engage with the private sector.

Edgardo Hernandez-Zamora, 27, was sentenced Feb. 13 to life in prison. He pleaded guilty June 8, 2023. His co-conspirators, Adrian Ramirez, 20, and Adrian Ramirez-Vasquez, 39, both from Mexico, previously pleaded guilty to their roles and received 48 and 60 months in prison, respectively.

Daniel Phillip Beckman, 46, of Watson, Missouri, received the sentence of 10 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for receipt of child sexual abuse material.

Dinero Devon Washington, 46, of Phoenix, further pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport noncitizens on Sept. 7, 2023.

ERO Boston arrested an unlawfully present Brazilian national charged with six counts of assault and battery with a firearm in Massachusetts and one count of a similar charge in Connecticut.

Hamza Abbas, 31; Ammas Uddin, 31; and Arham Uddin, 27; all residents of Richmond, were sentenced to 44, 18 and 18 months, respectively, while Syed Ali, 55, a resident of Sugar Land, was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Two others — Muhammad Anis, 55, and Jesus Acosta Perez, 33, both residents of Houston, were sentenced to respective terms of 21 months and 12 months and one day. All six had previously pleaded guilty to the charges and will be required to pay varying amounts in restitution.