News Releases and Statements

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting Director Todd M. Lyons, who serves as the current Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group’s chair, is hosting the group’s Annual Principals Meeting next week in San Diego. Representatives from five countries will meet to discuss emergent technology and growing impacts on global safety.

Following a three-week trial in December 2024, a jury found Larry J. Williams, Jr., 44, also known as “J Streets” and “J”, guilty of all 16 counts as charged against him in a second superseding indictment in September 2021.

Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons responds to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) calling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a “terrorist force.”

Richard Rindeikis, 44, was sentenced July 2 by a federal judge to 120 months for his role in a human smuggling event. Rindeikis was arrested Nov. 18, 2024. He pleaded guilty Feb. 5 to one count for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens.

"The unprecedented funding for ICE will enable my hard-working officers and agents to continue making America safe again by identifying, arresting and removing the most dangerous criminal aliens from our communities," said ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Newark and multiple federal, state and local partners made 18 arrests of alleged co-conspirators for roles in a drug trafficking organization on July 1 in Newark, New Jersey.

Joshua Lee Balderas, 33, was sentenced for to various counts related to human smuggling. He was arrested Oct. 28, 2022, and found guilty on all counts by a federal jury on Oct. 11, 2024.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Dallas apprehended Maria Julia Varela, a 36-year-old El Salvadoran national, with connections to MS-13 and Barrio 18 transnational gangs June 30.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia sentenced Felipe Orduna-Torres to life in prison and a $250,000 fine, and Armando Gonzales-Ortega to 83 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Both defendants were found guilty by a federal jury in March for three counts related to the transportation of aliens within the United States resulting in death, causing serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.

An investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led to the sentencing of Amos Oluremi Nureni, 43, to 10 years in prison followed by four years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

An investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led to the sentencing of Mark Rice, 38, to 30 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release, for producing and distributing child sexual abuse material.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed illegally present Guatemalan national Alvaro De Jesus Martinez-Juarez from the United States to Guatemala June 28. Martinez is a felon and predator convicted of acting in a course of sexual conduct against a child.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed Edgar Damian Sandoval-Albarran, also known as “La Rana,” a 39-year-old Mexican fugitive wanted in Mexico for the offense of organized crime and forced disappearance of persons, June 26.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Nashville, in collaboration with the Metro Nashville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives successfully apprehended Josue Hernandez Moxje, 23, a Honduran national, in connection with a double homicide.

“CNN’s promotion of an ‘ICE spotting’ app is reckless and irresponsible,” said ICE acting Director Todd M. Lyons.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment June 24 against Iranian national, Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, 40, of Tempe, Arizona for alien in possession of a firearm, and against his wife, Linet Vartaniann, 37, a U.S. citizen from Tempe, Arizona, for threatening to assault a federal officer.

ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.

A tip from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Crimes Center led to the May 29 arrest of Rafael Romeiro Rodriguez, a dangerous child sex offender, as he was attempting to travel internationally.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents, in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement partners, executed a federal search warrant at Buckeye Fire Equipment Company June 25 as part of an active, ongoing criminal investigation.

An ICE Boston operation led to federal charges for an illegally present 32-year-old Salvadoran alien who was unlawfully residing in Lynn after having been previously deported. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts indicted Jose Leonardo Gutierrez-Mendez June 9 on one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien.

ICE makes official notifications to Congress, nongovernmental organization stakeholders, and the media upon an official report of a detained illegal alien’s death and posts a news release with relevant details on the ICE public website within two business days per agency policy.

Darlington Akporugo, a 47-year-old illegal alien from Nigeria, and his wife Jasmin Sood, a 37-year-old Houston resident, were sentenced June 24 to 188 months and 121 months in prison, respectively, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Akporugo pleaded guilty earlier this year on Feb. 28, while Sood pleaded guilty Dec. 17, 2024.

ICE's HSI Tampa has signed an ICE Mutual Agreement Between Government and Employers, or IMAGE, program agreement with Ruri Software Technologies and Famous Technologies, Inc., as part of a voluntary collaborative program with America’s business community.

ORH III, conducted from Feb. 24 through March 7, builds on the success of the first two phases of the initiative which previously led to the identification and rescue of over 300 exploited children. With this third iteration, the cumulative victim count now surpasses 450, a chilling yet vital reminder of the scope the ongoing threat of online sexual exploitation poses to children.

The subjects were charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to sell and receive stolen property that had crossed state lines. Marco Honesty, 28, Richard Francis, 35, Dominique Hayes, 29, Deandre Dudley, 32, Ilon Coles-Melson, 21, and Marcus Gallmon, 21, residents of Washington, D.C. and Maryland, were charged at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark.