News Releases and Statements

A criminal complaint was Tuesday in federal court in Central Islip charging William Umberto Martinez Chavez, 40, with illegal reentry into the United States. Martinez Chavez was a member of the MS-13 Gang and previously found guilty of manslaughter for a fatal stabbing on Long Island.

Baltazar Arrieta-Lara, 52, a resident of Rusk County, Texas, pleaded guilty April 2 to making a false statement in a passport application before U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell.

Three people accused of being part of an international drug trafficking ring are in custody on federal charges alleging they used the Darknet to obtain drugs and offer narcotics for sale, and then shipped pound quantities of methamphetamine to buyers in the Philippines, New Zealand, Poland and other foreign destinations.

Jebediah Dishman, 72, of Fredonia, Kansas, was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison to be followed by 25 years of supervised release during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet.

John Ford, 38, was arrested in the parking lot of a local hotel by HSI special agents and officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Simon Chu, 63, of Chino Hills, and Charley Loh, 60, of Arcadia, were charged with a multiple-object conspiracy to commit wire fraud, to fail to furnish information under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), and to defraud the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

The group consisted of 45 adult males, five adult females, two accompanied teenagers, and two teenagers traveling alone from the following five nations: Belize, Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.

Qifeng Li, 41, his wife Xiamin Huang, 38, and brother Qiwei Li, 45, all face a mandatory minimum five years in prison and up to 40 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on June 18, 2019.

DFS Group and Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC) recently signed agreements to participate in IMAGE (ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers), a voluntary program in which HSI partners with businesses to reduce unauthorized employment and the use of fraudulent identity documents. Both companies received their certificates last week, formally marking their companies’ entry into the program.

ICE previously removed Acosta-Euceda to El Salvador on June 6, 2018, following a July 2017 felony conviction, for Rape 3rd Degree: victim less than 17 years, perpetrator 21 years or more, in Suffolk County (NY) Superior Court.

Joseph Lavern Harris, 31, of Rigby, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday to sexual exploitation of a minor child, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis and Special Agent in Charge Brad Bench of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Seattle Field Office announced.

As a result of Operation SaboTor, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies made 61 arrests and shut down 50 Darknet accounts used for illegal activity. Law enforcement executed 65 search warrants, seizing 299.5 kilograms of drugs, 51 firearms, and more than $7 million ($4.5 million in cryptocurrency, $2.48 million in cash, and $40,000 in gold).

On March 3, 2015, German Dario Brand-Piedrahita, 53, was sentenced to 144 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine for the purpose of importation into the United States.

Ali Caby, aka “Alex Caby”, 41, entered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location without admission or parole by an immigration officer.

David Russell Levick, 57, of Cherrybrook NSW, Australia, who previously pled guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 1, 2019, was sentenced by the Honorable James E. Boasberg.

Thomas Goodman, 45, was arrested by detectives from the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force on May 17, 2018, after Electric Boat Security confiscated Goodman’s cell phone when he violated company policy by using the cell phone on Electric Boat property.

ERO Philadelphia issued Jose Miguel Hernandez-Garcia, 35, a final administrative removal order March 29, 2016, while he was in the custody of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections serving a sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Seven members of a drug trafficking organization that distributed large quantities of crack cocaine, as well as heroin laced with fentanyl, over a two-year period, in and around the Village of Ellenville in Ulster County, New York were indicted federally following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York with the Ulster County Sheriff's Office, the New York State Police and the Village of Ellenville Police.

According to the investigation, David Saul Salazar, 49, Packwood, Washington, was traveling with Gregorio Capetillo and Luis Parra Magana from Washington state to Minot, North Dakota.  During that trip, Berthold police chief stopped the car and discovered about 10 pounds of methamphetamine and multiple firearms.

Carlos Juarez-Sanchez, a 33 year old Honduran national, has a history of illegal entry and arrests for multiple criminal offenses in the U.S. dating back to 2003. He was removed to Honduras by ICE in 2008, 2013, and 2014, and illegally re-entered the U.S. after each removal.

Rene Flores-Calderon, 35, from Mexico, appeared in federal court before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey who accepted his guilty plea.