News Releases and Statements

Law enforcement authorities arrested 43 people Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a federal drug investigation dubbed “Operation Wrecking Ball” into alleged drug trafficking and related crimes that spanned multiple jurisdictions and states.

Yermin Alexander Diaz-Chavarria, a Salvadoran national, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol August 23, 2015, at Hidalgo Texas, for entering the country illegally. In 2017,  El Salvador issued a warrant of arrest for Diaz for aggravated murder and affiliation with criminal organizations. On Feb. 13, 2018, Diaz did not appear for his immigration court hearing, and an immigration judge in Newark ordered him removed to El Salvador. On Feb. 11, 2019, ERO officers arrested Diaz in Newark. ERO officers removed him from the U.S. on March 8, 2019, and turned him over to Salvadoran authorities.

Sarah M. Wiley, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts before a United States District Judge.

Jeffrey H. Ernisse, 61, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Lynn S. Adelman to two counts of producing child pornography, one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in the Philippines, and one count of possessing child pornography.

Willis DeLaRosa-Baez, 34, was sentenced March 14, on the aforementioned charges. DeLaRosa-Baez, his co-defendant, Daniel Silvestre-Ubri, and other individuals conspired to distribute heroin and crystal methamphetamine in Pennsylvania between February 4, 2016, and April 6, 2016.

Raymond Larry Edward Kennedy, 24, of Kalispell, pleaded guilty to sexual exploiting a child and receiving child pornography. He faces a mandatory minimum 15 years to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release.

Xiangyu Zhang, an illegal alien from China residing in La Marque, Texas, was sentenced to 61 months in federal prison on March 14; he received 37 months for the firearms conviction, and a mandatory consecutive 24 months for identity theft.

Following an investigation by ICE's HSI in New York with the NYPD, a federal indictment was unsealed Wednesday charging Jamal Brissett, aka “Trigger” with murdering Leshaun Gordon, 19, in the Bronx, New York, on June 30, 2009.

Brandon Hileman, 26, of Lebanon, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison without parole by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool.

ERO deportation officers escorted Jeroen Van Den Elshout, 39, to Amsterdam, via a commercial flight and transferred him into the custody of Dutch law enforcement authorities.

Lancelot De Montsegur, aka Patrice Berthome, 38, was named in a one-count Indictment, returned on Feb. 19, as the as the sole defendant. He faces a maximum total sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000 or both.

An examination of a shipping container entering the United States revealed 60 packages containing a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.  This apprehension is the second largest cocaine seizure at the Port of New York/Newark, and the largest in nearly 25 years.

On March 6, in the 359th Montgomery County (Texas) District Court, Jeffrey Pittman, 47, from Porter, Texas, pleaded guilty to and was ordered to serve 30 years in prison for continuous sexual assault of a child; he was also sentenced to 20 years for sexual assault of a child. Pittman’s sentences are to be served concurrently. He is not eligible for early parole.

In an effort to mitigate vulnerabilities within the commerce stream that threaten the nation’s consumers and to protect national security, Homeland Security officials recently launched its Global Trade Task Force (GTTF), an ICE HSI-led multi-agency effort that leverages robust import and export controls and investigative authorities to combat illicit commercial activities.

On March 6, 2019, Gregg A. Johnson, 42, of Tucson, was found guilty by a federal jury of three counts of submitting false statements to a government agency.

Following an investigation by ICE’s HSI New York’s El Dorado Task Force, the former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (“El Aissami”) and Venezuelan businessman Samark Jose Lopez Bello were charged Thursday with criminal violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and sanctions imposed in February 2017 by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control pursuant to the Kingpin Act.

On Feb. 26, a federal grand jury returned a 38-count indictment against U.S. and Philippines-based conspirators for operating a fraudulent scheme to import Native American-style jewelry and sell it to retail stores and individuals across the southwest United States as authentic jewelry made by Native Americans. The conspirators allegedly perpetrated this international fraud and money laundering scheme for several years in violation of federal laws, including the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA).

The court’s order was based on its finding that Sammy Rasema Yetisen aka Rasema Handanovic aka Zolja, a native of the former Yugoslavia, lacked the good moral character required to naturalize because during the 1990s Balkans Conflicts she had executed six unarmed civilians and prisoners of war because of their religion and ethnicity.

Gulnara Karimova, 46, a citizen of Uzbekistan, was charged in an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York on March 7 with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Karimova is a former Uzbek official who allegedly had influence over the Uzbek governmental body that regulated the telecom industry. Bekhzod Akhmedov, 44, a citizen of Uzbekistan and the former Uzbek executive, was charged in the same indictment with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), two counts of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Karimova’s and Akhmedov’s case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood of the Southern District of New York.

In conjunction with the arrests, law enforcement executed search warrants at Li’s home and seven marijuana grow houses in Chino, Ontario and Chino Hills. As a result of the searches, authorities seized approximately 1,650 marijuana plants from several grow houses, as well as cash at Li’s house currently estimated to be at least $80,000.

Giovanni Hernandez, 45, from Weslaco, Texas, was convicted March 7 for his role in aiding and abetting that included attempting to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Fetahe Makonnen, 35, was convicted and sentenced after being arrested in October 2017, in possession of two computer thumb drives containing approximately 1,300 images and videos depicting child pornography involving prepubescent children.

Juan Pablo Sanchez-Delgado, 40, of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl R. Zwart. Conspiring to harbor aliens, when done for financial gain, is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.