News Releases and Statements

Omran Ismail, 53, of Burbank, Illinois, purchased four handguns in November 2013 from a licensed firearms dealer in Tinley Park, Illinois.  He then immediately transferred the guns to co-defendant Ola Sayed so that she could smuggle them to Egypt.  The guns were discovered in Sayed's checked luggage at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as she attempted to board a flight to Cairo via London. 

FOD Marc J. Moore explained that the new ICE facility was actually built in 2010 by the state of Texas to house inmates for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  However, the facility has never been used. 

A Mexican national living in Colorado was sentenced to six years in federal prison Dec. 2, for possession with intent to distribute of nearly 1,400 grams of fentanyl. He was also ordered to forfeit more than $40,000 in cash.

Gerardo Fabian Ramos, 41, and of Corpus Christi, was further ordered to register as a sex offender and to serve the rest of his life on supervised release following completion of his prison term. While on supervised release, Ramos will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Ramos pleaded guilty Aug. 13 to producing child pornography.

Samayoa Cabrera, a former civil patrol leader, has been charged in Guatemala for his alleged role in more than 150 human rights abuses, including torture, rape and extrajudicial killing, in El Quichè.

Kevin Kerr, 32, and Brianna Branch, 30, who pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 29, were sentenced to 85 months and 70 months respectively. Both will also serve three years of supervised release following the completion of their sentence.

The ongoing IPR enforcement initiative targeting fake websites, dubbed Operation In Our Sites, was facilitated by the IPR Center, a joint-task force agency led by ICE, FBI and CBP.

Hector Moran-Espinoza was arrested April 2, by the Philadelphia Police Department for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion, unlawful contact with a minor-sexual offenses, statuary sexual assault, endangering the welfare of children-parent or guardian commits offense, corruption of minors, indecent assault-without the consent of other person, reckless endangerment of another person, rape by forceable compulsion, sexual abuse of children-photographing, videotaping, depicting on a computer or filming sexual acts, and aggravated indecent assault without consent.

Larry James Cline, 31, of Buhl, Idaho, was sentenced on Nov. 19, 2019 in U.S. District Court to 60 months in federal prison followed by five years’ supervised release, for attempted use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Cline pleaded guilty on August 22, 2019.

Arrests took place in the following cities: Richmond (13), Henrico (3), Chester (2), North Chesterfield (2), Chesterfield (1), Petersburg (1), and Hanover (1). ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office all assisted ICE officers during the week.

Arrests took place in the following cities: Fredericksburg (14), Washington, D.C. (9), Fairfax (6), Falls Church (6), Alexandria (5), Leesburg (5), Manassas (5), Herndon (2), Woodbridge (2), District Heights (1) and Sterling (1). ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office all assisted ICE officers during the week.

The investigation began in 2017 after HSI special agents and TPD officers discovered evidence that drug trafficking organizations were utilizing United Parcel Service (UPS) employees to facilitate the movement of bulk narcotics to destinations throughout the eastern part of the United States, along with the movement of bulk U.S. currency back to the Tucson metropolitan area.

Nestor Burgos, 32, of River Grove, Illinois, pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal drug and firearm charges.

The purpose of the Teach-In is to encourage employees, businesses, community leaders, sports figures, local personalities, retirees, community volunteers and parents to become involved in education by sharing what they know with a new generation. The adults visit the classroom and talk with students about work, career challenges, hobbies and life experiences. They provide real life insights into work and careers and reinforce the importance of education for success in any occupation.

More than 14 years ago, the life of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Matthew Brooks and his family was changed forever with the murder of his father.

A statement posted to social media, Nov. 23, is a prime example of the reckless, irresponsible misinformation that continues to mislead the public concerning the mission of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In June 2019, HSI was contacted by the son of a former U.S. soldier who had legally purchased two Fernando Amorsolo paintings while stationed in the Philippines near the end of World War II.

The final defendant in United States v. Felix-Ramirez, et al, an eighteen-defendant indictment combatting the activities of a transnational drug trafficking organization, was sentenced to prison Nov. 25, by Senior U.S. District Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson. All defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

The Friday, Saturday and Sunday operation resulted in the arrests of nine people. Five face prosecution for state charges and four have been referred for federal charges. Suspects were booked into the Ada County Jail.

Timothy Howell, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez on November 22, 2019, to 51/2 years in prison and 4 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft. Howell’s co-defendant, Cavin Mower, 44, was sentenced by Judge Martinez on September 5, 2019, to 4 years, 2 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and money laundering.

ICE's HSI acting Special Agent in Charge Eben Roberts and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced Friday that a federal jury sitting in Coeur d’Alene convicted Adam Christopher Horty, 56, of Post Falls, Idaho, of three counts of distribution of methamphetamine, one count of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, and one count of felon in possession of firearms.