I.C.E. News Releases

11/05/2018

NEW YORK, NY

ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL

Twice removed Mexican national sentenced to 57 months in federal court, following a New York state conviction for rape
The sentencing of Rogelio Mendez, 38, follows a 2017 indictment pursuant to ICE's ERO securing the arrest warrant for illegal reentry.



11/02/2018

MIAMI, FL



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE detainee passes away at Monroe County Hospital
ICE is firmly committed to the health and welfare of all those in its custody and is undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of this incident, as it does in all such cases.



11/01/2018

DALLAS, TX



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE Dallas officers remove Kazakhstani man convicted of concealing evidence for Boston Marathon bombers
Dias Muratovich Kadyrbayev, 24, a citizen of Kazakhstan, was convicted June 2, 2015, of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice for removing and disposing of incriminatory items from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dorm room. Tsarnaev was later convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three innocent bystanders, and subsequently two police officers.



11/01/2018

PHILADELPHIA, PA



CYBER CRIMES


Former Drexel University student sentenced for cyberstalking classmate
During the 2015-16 school year, Waitze, a former Drexel University student, used a computer and the Internet to engage in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against a Drexel student following a personal dispute with the student.




10/31/2018

NEW YORK, NY



CYBER CRIMES


4 charged with participating in a scheme to defraud users of a dating website
Four individuals were indicted Wednesday following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). David Jones, David Duwayne Taylor, Kristin Knight, and Destiny Bishop are charged for their alleged involvement in a scheme by which they fraudulently duped their victims into believing that they had sent sexually explicit images to underage children and faced criminal prosecution if they did not pay to avoid involvement by law enforcement.


10/30/2018

WASHINGTON, DC



INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS


ICE HSI teams with London police to fight counterfeiting
IPR Center Director Alex Khu and CoLP Commissioner Ian Dyson pledged to combine resources to tackle the illegal importation and distribution of counterfeit goods that threaten the health and safety of consumers, wreak havoc on local and national economies, and fund criminal organizations involved in various illicit activities.



10/30/2018

WASHINGTON, DC



FINANCIAL CRIMES


East Texas businessman pleads guilty in Venezuelan bribery scheme
Ivan Alexis Guedez, 47, of Katy, Texas, worked as a procurement officer for Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), the state-owned energy company of Venezuela. The scheme involved payments by officials of U.S.-based companies to Guedez in exchange for business contracts. Guedez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money.



10/29/2018

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CHILD EXPLOITATION


San German-area man charged, arrested for sexual child exploitation
The criminal complaint alleges that Ruben Darío Báez-Aponte, 40, shared sexually explicit images and videos with a 14-year-old minor and, on several occasions, transported the victim to his home to engage in criminal sexual conduct.




10/29/2018

CAMDEN, NJ



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


Illegal alien sentenced to 18 months in prison for unlawfully returning to US, failing to register as sex offender
A Salvadoran man previously convicted for sexually assaulting a child was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for failing to register as a sex offender after unlawfully returning to the United States and traveling to New Jersey. The sentencing follows a multiagency investigation, which included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).



10/26/2018

HONOLULU, HI



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Kailua-Kona man sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for production of child pornography
Michael Phillip Patrakis, 46, of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, was sentenced Thursday to 292 months in prison for producing child pornography of two minor females. The case is the result of a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Hawaii Police Department.



10/26/2018

NEW YORK, NY



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ERO New York arrests previously removed Mexican national
Solis-Castro, who was removed from the U.S. on four separate occasions, has a criminal history that includes three felony drug convictions, and a conviction for illegal re-entry after removal. On Aug. 22, he was arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on the charges of forcible touching.



10/25/2018

WASHINGTON, DC



STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM


SEVP publishes 2017 international student data
SEVP plans to publish calendar year 2018 data during the first quarter of 2019. Future years’ data will publish in the first quarter of the following year. This will enable the public to review yearly trends in the international student population.




10/25/2018

SPRINGFIELD, MO



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Missouri man sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a child, illegally possessing a firearm
On June 4, 2018, Corey Dean Frasher, 43, of Springfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a child, and to illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.



10/24/2018

CHICAGO, IL



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Chicago-area man faces child pornography, extortion charges
David J. Cottrell, 28, of Niles, Illinois, is charged with two counts of transporting child pornography, one count of extortion, one count of inducing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, one count of attempting to produce child pornography, one count of producing of child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography.



10/24/2018

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CHILD EXPLOITATION


Puerto Rican man found guilty of sexual child exploitation
According to the evidence presented at trial, in March 2015, Wally Irizarry-Sisco transported an 11-year-old female to a motel located in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, with the intent to engage in sexually explicit conduct.



10/24/2018

MIAMI, FL



HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


Cuban national convicted of labor trafficking and alien smuggling
Ivan Madrigal Zamora, 47, of Cuba, was convicted of two counts of forced labor trafficking and two counts of encouraging and inducing an alien to reside in the United States.




10/24/2018

WASHINGTON, DC



INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS


ICE emphasizes social media in fight against counterfeiting
Intellectual property enforcement representatives met at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center in Arlington, Virginia, for the 2018 IPR Center Symposium: Leveraging the Influence of Social Media.



10/23/2018

PHILADELPHIA, PA



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE removes murder suspect wanted in Brazil
Varley Ramos Costa, 53, a Brazilian citizen, entered the United States on an unknown date and place without inspection or parole by an immigration officer.



10/19/2018

DALLAS, TX



HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


Dallas-area violent pimp sentenced to life in federal for sex trafficking minors
Allen Nash, 31, was convicted in April of the following charges: sex trafficking children; conspiracy to commit sex trafficking; sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion; transporting a minor to engage in commercial sex acts; and illegally possessing ammunition after he forced two victims, aged 17 and 19, into the illicit sex trade in the fall of 2014.



10/19/2018

NEW YORK, NY



HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


2 brothers extradited to the US from Mexico to face sex trafficking charges
Jose Osvaldo Melendez-Rojas and Rosalio Melendez-Rojas were arrested in February 2018 in Mexico to eventually face various charges in the United States, including sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking of minors, interstate prostitution, alien smuggling and related offenses. The defendants who were extradited are charged together with three co-defendants, who were arrested in the United States in July 2017.




10/18/2018

CHARLOTTE, NC



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE arrests fugitive alien in NC wanted on multiple Maryland rape charges
In collaboration with officers from ERO Baltimore, an ERO Charlotte Fugitive Operations Team located Alfredo Carreon-Lopez at a Forsyth County business Friday. Carreon is suspected to have fled the Baltimore area following the issuance of a Maryland state arrest warrant on charges of first-degree rape, second-degree rape, sexual abuse of a minor, first and second-degree assault, and multiple additional sexual offense charges.



10/18/2018

NEW ORLEANS, LA



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE "Most Wanted" fugitive, child predator captured in Louisiana
Jose Melchor Martinez AKA Jose Luis Martinez-Sanchez, an unlawfully present Mexican national, was arrested Wednesday morning by an ERO New Orleans Special Response Team after executing a federal arrest warrant at a residence in Church Point, Louisiana.



10/18/2018

NEW YORK, NY



OPERATIONAL


ICE HSI New York SSA reflects on Hurricane Maria efforts
When Andrew “Andy” Borra boarded his flight from New York to Puerto Rico in September 2017, nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to see.



10/18/2018

NEW YORK, NY



FINANCIAL CRIMES


Maryland brothers accused of operating inter-state cigarette trafficking ring
Basel Ramadan and Samir Ramadan were arraigned today in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Danny Chun; bail for Samir Ramadan was set at $2 million cash or $500,000 bond. Fahd Muthana was arraigned on October 11, 2018 in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Chun. All three defendants’ cases were adjourned to December 19, 2018.




10/18/2018

SALT LAKE CITY, UT



NARCOTICS


Utah grand jury returns superseding indictment in Shamo case; adds distribution of fentanyl count resulting in death
The indictment alleges that Shamo intentionally and knowingly distributed a substance containing fentanyl, the use of which resulted in the June 13, 2016, death of a person identified as R.K. in the indictment.

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