News Releases and Statements

Ericka Aldana, 40, of Chula Vista, confirmed that she recruited at least five drivers, procured vehicles for their use, obtained passports for them, and coached them on how to dress and answer questions from CBP officers.

ICE simultaneously launched its first ever online statistical dashboard for increased transparency into the agency’s operations.

Dementrous Von Smith, 36, of Waldorf, Maryland, received a sentence of 53 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, Dec. 15, for a wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, in relation to the submission of fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance claims in Maryland, California, and Arizona totaling at least $1.5 million.

HSI San Juan, along with the Puerto Rico Police Bureau and the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested Shaquille Emmanuel Rivera–De Jesus, one of the fugitives of HSI’s Operation Youngblood executed on Sept. 22, 2023.

U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement named Jennifer Fenton as the Associate Director of ICE OPR, and Angie M. Salazar as the Deputy Associate Director Dec. 19.

Tong Sun, 45, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis, who accepted his plea for possessing child sexual abuse material via his cell phone.

According to court documents, Guadalupe Quezada, 35, of Mesa, Arizona, along with co-defendants Veronica Quezada, 39, also of Mesa, and Elizabeth Miranda Lozano, 39, of Dallas, actively participated in an ongoing conspiracy to bring in, transport and harbor undocumented immigrants into the United States from Mexico from on or about November 2019 through on or about August 2021.

Kahlil Felder, 39, of Southeast Washington D.C., was arraigned on a four-count indictment charging him with possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and using, carrying and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, among other charges. Felder was ordered detained pending trial.

The El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) was one of two El Paso businesses that joined Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) IMAGE, or Mutual Agreement between Government Employers program, Dec. 19.

William Reyes Garcia, 33, of Silver Spring, Maryland, received the 15-year prison sentence at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt on Dec. 5.

HSI Baltimore Special Agents Milton Lynn and Michael Gonzalez and Task Force Officer Thomas Seabolt were presented with the Baltimore County Police Department’s Police Chief’s Award on Nov. 29 at the Baltimore County Police Department Headquarters in Towsend, Maryland.

Following a multi-year HSI investigation into global trade networks, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging Iranian national Hossein Hatefi Ardakani and co-defendant Gary Lam, who worked for a Chinese company, with crimes related to the procurement of U.S.-manufactured dual-use microelectronics for the IRGC ASF SSJO's one-way attack UAV program.

Ramon Alvarez-Hernandez, 40, of El Salvador, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm. HSI and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case.

The captain and co-captain of a boat that capsized off Imperial Beach during a 2022 smuggling incident, resulting in three deaths, were sentenced in federal court Dec. 14 to 54 and 50 months in prison, respectively.

Kenneth Howard Worthy, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 40 years in federal prison without parole.

Pablo Talavera Jr., 36, of Pharr, was sentenced Dec. 14 by a federal judge to serve 18 months in federal prison immediately followed by two years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard opposing arguments regarding the appropriate sentence.

Noe Gonzalez-Martinez aka Tocayo, 40, was convicted Dec. 15 on all counts as charged following a three-day trial. Gonzalez-Martinez was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, murder-for-hire conspiracy, murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking related crime, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

During the conspiracy, Ariel Pintado-Montalvo paid thousands of dollars in bribe payments to Antonio Silva-Rodriguez, Hector Vazquez-Barroso and Doris Bonilla-Valle, who each used their positions as Department of Treasury employees to approve fraudulent and non-fraudulent vehicle excise-tax declarations in exchange for bribe payments.

Nathan Hernandez, 20, of Yuma, is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on March 25, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Michael T. Liburdi.

Pilar Angel Leon-Beltran, 44, of Sinaloa, Mexico, pleaded guilty to the charges on March 22. He admitted to being in violation of a condition of his supervised release from a previous federal conviction.

David Alejandro Bautista, 32, was sentenced by a federal judge Dec. 14 to 240 months in federal prison. The judge also ordered Bautista to pay $84,000 restitution and special assessments in the amounts of $100, $5,000 and $35,000. He must also forfeit his electronic devices.

Augusto Jean Carlo Castillo-Hernandez aka Metal aka Joker, 34, of Guatemala, was arrested on Aug. 31, 2021, in Guatemala and extradited to the United States in February 2022 along with two other people.

On Nov.29, a federal grand jury in Tucson returned an 11-count indictment against Jorge Damian Roman-Figueroa, Luis Eduardo Roman-Flores, Manuel Jose Bernal, Joel Salazar-Ballesteros and Jesus Armando Gonzalez-Villela, citizens of Mexico, for conspiracy to transport aliens; conspiracy to launder monetary instruments; conspiracy to distribute marijuana, methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; distribution of marijuana, methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine; and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Ezequiel Alanis Espitia, a 40-year-old citizen of Mexico, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 27 years in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release for money laundering and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Espitia pleaded guilty to the charges on May 17.

Sean Michael Kriss, a 40-year-old resident of Brazoria, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 30 years for the sexual exploitation of a child and 10 years in prison for possession of child sexual abuse material.