I.C.E. and C.B.P. News Releases 8/12/19
I.C.E. News Releases
08/09/2019
ST, THOMAS, VI
HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING
HSI St. Thomas arrests Dominican national for alien smuggling, prostitution scheme
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.
08/09/2019
TUCSON, AZ
CHILD EXPLOITATION
ICE HSI Tucson participates in child exploitation sting
Twelve agencies participated in the operation, including ICE's HSI, Tucson Police Department, CBP, FBI, USMS, ATF, USSS, Oro Valley Police Department, Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Department of Public Safety, Pima County Attorney’s Office and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
08/07/2019
JACKSON, MS
WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT
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ICE executes federal search warrants at multiple Mississippi locations
In addition to executing federal search warrants and seizing business records pertaining to the ongoing federal criminal investigation, deportation officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in partnership with HSI detained approximately 680 removable aliens who were unlawfully working at the plants.
08/07/2019
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
NARCOTICS
2 Oklahoma prison guards indicted for distributing methamphetamine
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.
08/06/2019
TAMPA, FL
WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT
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Master Maintenance Inc. joins the IMAGE program
The DHS E-Verify employment eligibility verification program enables employers to verify that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States.
08/06/2019
SACRAMENTO, CA
DOCUMENT AND BENEFIT FRAUD
Tracy California resident convicted on multiple counts of "H-1B" visa fraud, aggravated identity theft
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.
08/05/2019
POCATELLO, ID
NARCOTICS
Soda Springs man sentenced to 17 years in prison for running drug trafficking organization in Eastern Idaho
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.
08/02/2019
WASHINGTON, DC
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
Wanted murderer removed to El Salvador
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.
08/01/2019
CHICAGO, IL
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
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ICE deportation officers in Chicago remove Salvadoran wanted on terrorism charges in his home country
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.
08/01/2019
DETROIT, MI
HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING
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Nearly 3-year manhunt ends in arrest of HSI most wanted fugitive
Darrick Bell, 50, aka Tone or Ghost, a U.S. citizen, was the subject of a nearly three-year manhunt, following the takedown of a large-scale human trafficking operation at the now-demolished Victory Inn Motel in Detroit.
07/31/2019
TAMPA, FL
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
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ERO, OPLA leadership meet with Florida Sheriff's Association to strengthen partnerships
“Our partnerships with jurisdictions across Florida allow us to better meet our public safety enforcement mission,” said ERO Miami Acting Field Office Director Mike Meade, for the Miami Field Office of ERO. “This is an example of law enforcement working together to make communities safer by keeping criminal aliens off our streets.”
07/31/2019
HONOLULU, HI
CHILD EXPLOITATION
Maui man surrenders on charges of traveling to Thailand to have sex with teen he claimed was his daughter
George Alexis Theros, 76, was arrested yesterday by special agents with ICE's HSI Honolulu and officers with the Maui Police Department. The ongoing investigation is being conducted by HSI in Honolulu and Panama, U.S. Dept. of State’s DSS Overseas Criminal Investigations and local law enforcement in Panama and Thailand.
07/31/2019
WASHINGTON, DC
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND COMMERCIAL FRAUD
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ICE HSI Global Trade Investigations Division partners with Liberty Shared to combat forced labor
HSI’s forced labor programs coordinate and initiate criminal investigations into U.S.-bound supply chains whose goods are made wholly or in part by means of forced labor.
07/31/2019
LOS ANGELES, CA
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND COMMERCIAL FRAUD
ICE HSI investigation leads to federal indictment alleging scheme to avoid payment of $1.8 billion in anti-dumping duties on Chinese aluminum imported as 'pallets'
The 53-page indictment alleges that China Zhongwang Holdings Limited, Asia’s largest aluminum extrusion company; Zhongtian Liu, the company’s former president and chairman; and several individual and corporate co-defendants lied to U.S. Customs and Border Protection to avoid paying the United States $1.8 billion in anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) that were imposed in 2011 on certain types of extruded aluminum imported into the United States from China.
07/29/2019
SAN SALVADOR,EL SALVADOR
CHILD EXPLOITATION
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ICE HSI special agents and victim assistance specialists lead human trafficking and child exploitation trainings for Latin American and Caribbean law enforcement authorities
The trainings, which took place between June 17-21 and June 24-28, 2019, were designed to help participating law enforcement officers, agents, prosecutors, and judges understand the crimes of sex trafficking/forced labor and child exploitation/sexual child abuse and how to work these types of cases. The ICE HSI delegations not only provided insight into each crime, but also discussed the challenges they face when investigating and prosecuting human trafficking and child exploitation cases in the United States.
07/26/2019
CHICAGO, IL
DOCUMENT AND BENEFIT FRAUD
Chinese businesswoman indicted on student-visa, work-visa fraud charges
Weiyun Huang, also known as “Kelly Huang,” 30, of Beijing, China, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and five counts of visa fraud, according to an indictment returned July 25 in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
07/26/2019
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND COMMERCIAL FRAUD
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ICE HSI San Francisco intercepted counterfeit products attempting to penetrate the Bay Area consumer market
This surge initiative in the Bay Area is in furtherance of an HSI-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) strategy for targeting the importation, smuggling, and trafficking of counterfeit goods. The goal of this operation is to identify and interdict counterfeit products entering the US at International Mail Facilities and Express Consignment Hubs, and then for HSI field offices to initiate investigations to disrupt and dismantle those organizations involved in these criminal acts.
07/26/2019
SACRAMENTO, CA
DOCUMENT AND BENEFIT FRAUD
2 California DMV employees convicted of bribery, identity fraud, unauthorized computer usage
Kari Scattaglia, 40, of Sylmar, and another former DMV employee co-defendant Lisa Terraciano, 52, of North Hollywood, pleaded guilty, Nov. 3, 2017, to a conspiracy to commit bribery, to commit identity fraud, and to commit unauthorized access of a computer.
07/25/2019
WASHINGTON, DC
STATEMENT
Acting ICE director testifies on Hill about agency budget needs
The acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director testified Thursday afternoon before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, at a hearing titled, “ICE Oversight Hearing.” In his testimony, Acting ICE Director Matthew T. Albence highlighted the humanitarian crisis at the southwest border and the necessary resources and funding needed for the agency fulfill its mission.
07/25/2019
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL
Salvadoran gangster removed to his home county to face charges for gang violence, murder
Cortez-Moreno, 30, is wanted by the Salvadoran government for multiple egregious crimes, including charges of manslaughter, murder and other crimes with ties to 18th Street Gang activity.
07/25/2019
BOSTON, MA
HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING
ICE HSI Boston case brings conviction, possible 15 years-to-life sentence, for Massachusetts sex trafficker
Reginald Abraham, 51, was convicted in Boston of four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion. Abraham, who was arrested, charged and has been held in federal custody since September 2017, will remain in custody until his sentencing in November.
07/25/2019
CHICAGO, IL
NARCOTICS
Former Chicago resident sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for laundering drug cartel money
Mario Herrera, 55, from Michoacán, Mexico, and formerly of Chicago, was a member of a Mexico-based conspiracy that laundered more than $100 million in narcotics proceeds on behalf of the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa drug cartels.
07/25/2019
CHICAGO, IL
DOCUMENT AND BENEFIT FRAUD
Chicago 'con man' sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for defrauding more than 200 aliens
James Keegan, 57, of Cicero, Illinois, fraudulently offered immigration advocacy services, including guaranteed U.S. permanent resident status, in exchange for a fluctuating fee that averaged $3,000 per applicant.
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