News Releases and Statements

Edward J. Wesser, of Madison, was charged May 30 in Dane County with sexually exploiting a child, which is a felony. A status conference is scheduled for July 2.

A native of El Salvador, residing in Columbia, Md., was sentenced May 30 for illegally re-entering the United States after having been previously deported as the result of a felony conviction, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Twenty people were arrested Wednesday following the two separate federal grand jury indictments charging 22 defendants with crimes related to trafficking methamphetamine and international money laundering. The charges were announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Colorado, and OCDETF's Strike Force.

Rey Vilanova-Delgado, 31, of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, was sentenced to 17 years and five months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release. Felix Rodriguez-Acevedo, 32, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, and Zairo Ramos, 29, of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, were both sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by a period of supervised release of 15 years, and 15 years and eight months, respectively.

Special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized nearly 1,400 counterfeit items with a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of more than $400,000 at two Birmingham, Ala., stores May 23.

Steven Woolley, 29, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow, who also ordered that upon his release from prison, Woolley must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Francisco Piche-Aguilar, an El Salvadoran national wanted in his home country for aggravated homicide in connection with the stabbing death of a 37-year-old victim in February 2010, was deported and turned over to El Salvadoran law enforcement officials Wednesday by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

GPX/GPX, USA, a Texas-based seismic surveying company, and its field operations supervisor were charged Tuesday with harboring and transporting illegal aliens and conspiracy to commit those offenses in north central Pennsylvania oil and gas survey work. The case was investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)...

A Maryland man charged with illegally reproducing and selling feature motion pictures, John M. Harris, pleaded guilty Friday to federal copyright infringement charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Melvin Eraldo Ramirez was sentenced Friday to 84 months in prison for illegally reentering the United States, following an investigation by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO). Ramirez has a lengthy and violent criminal history in the United States, including convictions for theft, abduction, malicious wounding, and assault and battery.

Douglas Bruce Parsons was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography after an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Forensic analysis of three computers and an external hard drive resulted in discovering 178 videos totaling more than 58 hours of child pornography.

ICE's top 5 stories for the week ending May 25, 2012

Cristiano Budiman, a citizen of Indonesia, pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating digital copyright laws by manufacturing and selling various modification chips used in popular gaming consoles. The conviction follows an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Ian Garland, 52, a federally licensed firearms dealer did business as Chaparral Guns in Chaparral, N.M. That's where his co-conspirators purchased weapons which were later smuggled to Mexico.

Jorge Arturo Maltos-Chavez, a man from Mexico who is wanted for murder in his home country, was deported and turned over to Mexican officials May 24 by officers with ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Dejan Radojkovic, a former Bosnian-Serb police commander wanted in his native country for genocide and atrocities against thousands of Bosnian Muslims, was deported Wednesday, capping a successful effort by ICE's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center to investigate the case and gain his removal from the United States.

Jay Kroll, 56, of Massapequa, N.Y., a registered level two sex offender, allegedly downloaded videos of child pornography on his computer seized by HSI special agents.

Stolen corporate identities were used to create fraudulent empty-shell companies and sell them for a profit.

Six people were sentenced Thursday for their roles in a conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens. Over the course of the 10-year conspiracy, HSI special agents seized about 400 aliens being transported by the organization. The organization transported an estimated 40 aliens per month.

All members of a Maryland document mill, including eight Mexican nationals and a Honduran national, pleaded guilty to manufacturing and selling thousands of fake government identification documents, following an investigation led by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The defendants each face up to 20 years imprisonment if convicted.

Authorities allege Quintero and two others fired nine shots at the victim, Oscar Oswaldo Reyes Alvarado, resulting in his death. The motive for the shooting is unknown.

Orlando Garcia, 33, of Corpus Christi, Texas, was sentenced to life in federal prison May 24 by Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack on May 24 in Corpus Christi federal court.

As part of U.S. ICE's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, officers from ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 30 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators during a four-day operation in Kentucky.

Eighteen people were charged Wednesday morning in a series of criminal schemes, including money laundering, identity theft, alien harboring and arson, involving seven IHOP restaurants in northwest Ohio and Indiana. The charges follow a joint investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service...