News Releases and Statements

Members of the Latin Kings gang in Newburgh, N.Y., were found guilty Wednesday of crimes committed during their association with the gang. Beginning in 2007, the Newburgh Latin Kings and their associates sold cocaine, crack heroin and marijuana at drug spots in Newburgh and protected the gang's drug turf, drugs and drug money using violence.

An Escondido-based commercial framing company, S&H Contracting Inc., has become the latest employer headquartered in the San Diego area to partner with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in a program designed to strengthen hiring practices and combat the unlawful employment of illegal aliens.

Curt Scholz was sentenced Tuesday to 152 months in prison for possession of child pornography after an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).Scholz acknowledged that among the more than 150 images of child pornography he possessed were images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct with other minors.

ICE proudly selects service members like U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Sandra Ambotaite through the Department of Defense's Operation Warfighter internship program to work in ICE offices nationwide as they recover from their traumatic injuries.

As part of ICE's ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, 24 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators were arrested during a three-day operation in the Indianapolis area.

A Canoga Park man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to using Craigslist to advertise and sell counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Donald Cunningham, 47, of Urbana, was arrested July 16 by HSI special agents. A federal grand jury returned an indictment last week, but it remained sealed pending Cunningham's arrest and court appearance.

Mario Laguna-Guerrero pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to engage in the sex trafficking of a minor. Laguna-Guerrero began recruiting "Jane Doe," who has an IQ of 58, to perform commercial sex acts in exchange for money in Hillsborough County sometime in 2008.

A Ukrainian man, Omelyan Botsvynyuk, was sentenced Monday to life in prison for operating a human trafficking organization which smuggled young Ukrainian immigrants into the United States and forced them to work for little or no pay. The investigation was conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of the Joint FBI...

Pedro Lopez-Rocha, a Mexican national who arrived in Southern California on board a marijuana-laden panga-style boat that came ashore north of Malibu in mid-January, has received a nearly six-year prison term.

Top 5 news stories for the week ending July 13, 2012

Two men accused of creating a global network of shell companies to deceive U.S. companies into supplying nuclear-related materials to Iran were indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia following an international investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

More than 100 representatives from the government and private sectors, including high-level law enforcement representatives from the U.S. and Mexico, convened in Los Angeles Thursday for a binational summit to strategize on ways to enhance existing efforts to combat human trafficking in both countries.

Geoffrey B. Roose was sentenced Friday to 10 months in federal prison for attempting to sell export restricted military-grade equipment to overseas buyers in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Roose pleaded guilty in March following his February federal indictment,which stemmed from an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.

James M. Woosley, the former acting director of ICE's Office of Intelligence, was sentenced today to 20 months in prison for defrauding the U.S. government. Woosley defrauded the government of more than $180,000 in a scheme involving fraudulent travel vouchers, and time and attendance claims.

Dino Rambharose, a New York City man who was arrested for resisting efforts to deport him multiple times, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison. The sentence is the result of an investigation by ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO). On three separate occasions, Rambharose resisted being deported.

Lance Howard Mayes has been indicted on federal charges for receiving child pornography, following a probe by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Clove Police Department.

Albert Silva Hernandez Jr., 43, of Las Vegas, is charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury July 10, with eight counts of sexual exploitation of a child and three counts of transporting child pornography. The indictment alleges the defendant exchanged sexually explicit text messages and photographs with a minor girl.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) seized 70 websites that were illegally selling counterfeit merchandise.

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and officers from other law enforcement agencies seized more than $540,000 in counterfeit Major League Baseball (MLB) merchandise during a two-week operation ending with Tuesday night's MLB All-Star Game.

Christopher Daves made his initial appearance in federal court Thursday on an indictment charging him with possessing child pornography in a case being investigated by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A Mexican fugitive who was extradited back to Mississippi to face human smuggling charges was sentenced to more than three years in prison Wednesday, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

ICE returned 14 stolen and looted cultural paintings and artifacts to the government of Peru at a repatriation ceremony in Washington, D.C. The items were recovered in five separate investigations by special agents of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New York; West Virginia; Wilmington, Delaware; and Austin and Houston, Texas.

Michael Gavel III, 38, of Baltimore, was sentenced July 11 by U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg to seven years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, for distributing child pornography.