News Releases and Statements

Bassem Afif Herz, 31, of Cedar Rapids, was sentenced to 97 months in prison following his previous guilty plea to various charges related to a scheme to illegally export hundreds of firearms to Lebanon.

Dimas Rodriguez, 44, and Jose Gertudis Partida, 71, both appeared before U.S. Magistrate Micaela Alvarez Dec. 8 ordered Rodriguez and Partida to serve 70 and 30 months in federal prison, respectively.

Those arrested include Celin Javier Montoya, 23, Anthony Ozuna, 20, Alfredo Rivera, 24, and Pedro Vega, 40, all of Edinburg, Texas; Noe Gonzalez, 19, of San Juan, Texas; and Jonathan Sanchez-Torres, 19, an illegal alien from Mexico who was residing in Pharr, Texas.

Jeffrey Burlingame, 59, was arrested in February 2016 on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The complaint alleged that Burlingame committed the crime Feb. 24, 2016, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Ali Afif Al Herz, 51, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, previously pleaded guilty to multiple counts that included the following crimes: conspiring to deal in firearms without a license, conspiring to illegally ship firearms in interstate and foreign commerce, conspiring to commit money laundering, violating the Arms Export Control Act, and possessing firearms after having previously been convicted of a crime of domestic violence.

Joshua Craig Rowling, 18, of Richmondville, New York, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, one count of unlawful possession of a weapon and one count of possession of a silencer.

Azucena Garcia-Ferniza, 22, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm while unlawfully in the United States. In her plea, she admitted that on May 7, 2015, she unlawfully possessed a Glock model 30 .45-caliber pistol. Her visitor’s visa had expired in February 1998.

Trinidad Gallegos, 47, was arrested in July 2015 on an indictment charging him with assaulting a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon; he was also charged with being a felon in possessing a firearm and ammunition Aug. 20, 2014, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Upon execution of the search warrant, a large cache of weapons, including fully automatic firearms and live hand grenades, were discovered inside the storage unit. The Kane County Sherriff’s Bomb Squad was summoned to the scene to secure the grenades. Further investigation identified the renter of the storage unit as 31-year-old Juan Mexicano of Addison, Illinois.

Francisco Roberto Esquibel, Jr., 34, was charged in a criminal complaint filed June 11, 2015, with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. According to the complaint, APD officers found the firearm while arresting Esquibel on an outstanding warrant. 

Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested David Krowner, 42, from Estancia, New Mexico, June 17 after a narcotics canine allegedly detected the odor of illegal drugs in his vehicle.