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Mauricio Ruiz, a 41-year-old resident of Alice, Texas, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender and serve the rest of his life on supervised release following completion of his prison term during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Restitution will be determined at a later date.

Gerardo Jimenez, 30, from Pharr, Texas, plead guilty May 11 for smuggling heroin and methamphetamines.

Fernando Cristancho, age 65, of Bel Air, Maryland, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison followed by lifetime supervised release, on May 11, for coercion and enticement of a minor who he met through the church to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Roderick DeWayne Chisley, 47, of Monroe, Louisiana, was convicted May 11, following a three-day trial. The jury deliberated for over three hours before convicting Chisley.

Those seeking social visitation will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and temperature checked; sick or symptomatic individuals will not be admitted into facilities for the purpose of social visitation. Additionally, detainees and visitors will be required to exercise proper hand hygiene pre- and post-visit and wear appropriate face coverings and other applicable personal protective equipment (as described by the CDC) at all times within facilities.

Andres Antonio Ponce, 22, from San Antonio, was sentenced May 10 in federal court to 235 months in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Ponce pleaded guilty April 15, 20

The jury convicted Aurelio Barajas-Pulido, 52, a legal permanent resident, for human smuggling following a one-day trial. The jury deliberated for approximately four hours before convicting Barajas-Pulido.

On January 24, 2022, a federal jury convicted Sorto Romero of the racketeering charges, along with co-defendants Jose Joya Parada, a/k/a “Calmado,” age 21, Milton Portillo-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Little Gangster,” age 26; and Juan Carlos Sandoval-Rodriguez, a/k/a “Picaro,” age 24, after a three-month trial. Portillo-Rodriguez and Sandoval-Rodriguez were also convicted of multiple counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

The indictment alleges that from a date unknown until April 8, Mexican nationals Olegario Lares-De La Rosa, 29, and Ivan Heriberto Borboa-Ruiz, 28, conspired together to detain two undocumented noncitizens in order to compel family members to pay money as a condition for their release.

An investigation headed by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia field office led to the arrest of a former Liberian rebel general on May 5. Agents from HSI Philadelphia arrested Laye Sekou Camara, a/k/a “K-1,” a/k/a “Dragon Master,” 43, of Mays Landing, NJ, who has been indicted on the charge of use of an immigration document obtained by fraud.

Hosted by HSI Resident Agent in Charge Arturo Napolitano, the ceremony included an awards presentation to officers with the CPD and HCSO for their work on several large-scale child exploitation cases, including one that crossed multiple state lines and involved more than a dozen victims.

The IPR Center, working collaboratively with its public and private sector partners, stands at the forefront of the United States government's response to combatting global intellectual property theft and enforcing intellectual property rights violations.

On May 4, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment against Mario Alberto Molina, 25, from McAllen. According to court documents, the complaint originally filed in the case, CBP performed a routine inspection of an inbound package originating from Brazil in Miami, Florida. The charges allege the package was purported to be marked as natural dye for tie-dye purposes, but authorities allegedly discovered a powdery substance later determined to be 4.5 kilograms of DMT.

Abraham J. Ahumada, 23, of Laredo, went before U.S. District Judge, Marina Garcia Marmolejo to plead guilty for conspiracy to transport noncitizens resulting in death. During his court hearing, he admitted to leaving the victims behind after a car accident.

Robert Martinez Hinojosa, 63, Alice, Texas; and Matthew John Sayles, 42, Raul Benavides, 48, Juan Lebrado Pena, 31, and Gilberto Saldana Jr., 41, all of Corpus Christi, pleaded guilty to violating the RICO statute. Hinojosa received 268 months, while Sayles, Benavides, Pena and Saldana received respective sentences of 90, 108, 210 and 271 months.

Ehab Sadeek, a 49-year-old Egyptian national living in Massachusetts, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 405 months in federal prison following multiple convictions of child exploitation.

HSI San Diego special agents Kenneth K. Padilla, Stirling A. Campbell, Brent H. Moores, and Cyber Security Specialist Benjamin J. Lockyer – members of the OCC team – received the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Meritorious Service Silver Medal Award during a special ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Air Station San Diego, April 29. Group Supervisory Special Agent James R. Grundy and Cyber Operations Officer Allen W. Latimer were awarded but not present during the ceremony.

Charles Anthony Lecara, aka “Eric,” “Bloodhound,” 43, of San Antonio was sentenced May 2 by a federal judge to serve 87 months n federal prison. On Jan. 13,Lecara pleaded guilty to three counts of aiding and abetting false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms.

Pedro Adan Sevilla, 25, of Phoenix, Arizona, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

Charles Robert Wright, 61, is scheduled to be sentenced July 6, before U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez.

Sean Patrick Fosler, 28, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

Darwuin Sai Kabrera-Garsia 26, plead guilty April 28 for smuggling three noncitizens resulting in the death of one.

The IPR Center, in conjunction with Michigan State University’s A-CAPP Center, hosted a discussion, April 26, with Sean Williams, Co-Founder of Detroit -vs- Everybody to discuss brand protection to help creatives protect their business against IP theft in support of World Intellectual Property Day 2022.

Benjamen Charles Slaughter, a 24-year-old resident of Friendswood, Texas, pleaded guilty to the charges Aug. 4, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Kory Mammen, 52, from Sioux City, Iowa, pled guilty on January 4, 2022, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. In 2000 and 2011, Mammen was convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.