News Releases and Statements

The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) is reviewing an annual report on the number of IPR seizures that have raised the total estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of the seized goods – had they been genuine – to $1.4 billion.

The tanker, cargo and cash are subject to forfeiture based on violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), bank fraud statute, and money laundering statute, as well as separately the terrorism forfeiture statute.

John Seil Lee, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, who ordered him remanded into federal custody. Judge Anderson – who also ordered Lee to pay more than $552,000 in restitution to his victims, including men who were injured by Lee’s misbranded pills – remarked in court on Lee’s “callousness” and how Lee’s “scheme has literally ruined lives.”

Martin Mejia Ramos, aka Ricardo Morales Rodriguez and Martin Jose Romes-Ramirez, pleaded guilty May 10, 2019, to illegally reentering the United States following an aggravated felony conviction.

Ivette Julissa Ramirez, 18, Jesus Abraham Ramirez, 24, and David Arnaldo Garcia, 25, from Laredo were arrested and charged Aug. 16, 2019, with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States by knowingly making a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm.

Pursuant to an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with participation from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS); the High Commission of India in London in coordination with Indian Customs; and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York (DANY), the limestone carved relief and Navaneetha Krishna Bronze figure from India were repatriated to their home country.  On Aug. 15, the High Commissioner of India in London accepted the return of the artifacts on behalf of India.

Jose Miguel Melendez-Rojas was arrested in February 2019 in Mexico following the joint investigation, and is charged with five co-defendants: two were extradited from Mexico to the United States in October 2018, and three were previously arrested in the United States. He faces an 18-count indictment charging him with sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking of minors, interstate prostitution, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy.

Ronald Feder, 32, of Skokie, Illinois, offered to give child pornography to an individual he met online in exchange for what Feder thought would be access to molest the individual’s nephew and niece. 

On Aug. 12, Ricardo Florencio Pelayo Vilchez was removed from the United States escorted by ERO officers. Pelayo arrived at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima where he was transferred into the custody of Peruvian authorities.

Lex Bennett Goodwin, 34, of Pocatello, was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison for producing, transporting, and possessing child pornography, Brad Bench of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle Field Office and U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today.

During the two-day trial, the jury heard testimony that on April 15, 2019, Heriberto Lerma, 42, Pharr, Texas, drove a tractor trailer into the Border Patrol Checkpoint south of Sarita shortly after 1 a.m. Lerma told agents he was traveling alone and that he was hauling building materials. However, authorities noticed the bill of lading and the seal placed on the door of the trailer did not match.

Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Matthew Albence visited El Salvador from August 9-10, 2019. The purpose of the acting director’s visit was to discuss ICE enforcement priorities and the agency’s commitment to dismantle networks involved in human smuggling.

According to court documents unsealed Thursday, between December 2018 and August 2019, Yohanna Gonzalez-McFarlane, 38, of the Dominican Republic, operated the Underground Nightclub in St. Thomas. She recruited young foreign women and arranged to have them smuggled into the U.S. Virgin Islands to engage in prostitution while working at the bar. Gonzalez-McFarlane then housed the women at a residence in St. Thomas and required them to engage in commercial sex at the defendant’s nightclub to repay their smuggling debts.

Ali Khatib Haji Hassan, 49, Makame Haji Mwinyi, 49, Ernest Michael Mbwile, 35, Abdulahtif Juma Maalim, 43, Ibrahim Omary Madega, 52, Tiko Emanuel Adam, 41, Iddy Saleme Mfullu, 46, Mohammed Said Mohammed, 48, Daud Michael Vedasto, 58, all from Tanzania; Salim Omar Balouch, 36, from Iran; and Abdul Basit Jahangir, 40, from Karachi, Pakistan, were all sentenced as a result of the investigation into trafficking multiple kilograms of heroin to the United States from abroad.

Micah Lynne Wascher, 36, and Travis Eugene Wascher, 42, both of Canute, Oklahoma, were correctional officers for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections at the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Oklahoma, at the time of the alleged offenses.

The DHS E-Verify employment eligibility verification program enables employers to verify that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States.

Abhijit Prasad, 52, received multiple convictions Tuesday, including 21 counts of visa fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft from a federal jury. Prasad was previously indicted on related charges during 2016.

According to court records, Ryan Fitzgerald Dalley, 44, of Soda Springs, admitted that from September 2013 to October 2017, he acted as an organizer, supervisor or manager over at least five other individuals who conspired to distribute methamphetamine in Idaho and other states. He further admitted that he received substantial income from the sales of methamphetamine and laundered $100,000 in drug proceeds.

On May 10, ERO officers with the Washington field office arrested Alvaro Johel Angel Angel in Alexandria, Virginia and served him a notice to appear in immigration court. An immigration judge ordered Angel removed to El Salvador July 9. 

Pedro Juan Cruz-Cortez, 23, was flown to El Salvador July 31 on a charter flight coordinated by ICE Air Operations (IAO).  Upon arrival, ERO officers transferred Cruz-Cortez to officials from El Salvador’s Civilian National Police.