I.C.E. News Releases



08/27/2018

WILMINGTON, NC



DOCUMENT AND BENEFIT FRAUD


19 foreign nationals indicted for illegally voting in 2016 elections
Nineteen foreign nationals were charged with unlawfully voting in the 2016 elections Friday, and a U.S. citizen was charged with aiding and abetting an alien to falsely claim U.S. citizenship to register to vote.



08/24/2018

NEWARK, NJ



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE removes El Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha gang member wanted for criminal conspiracy
Melvin Isaac Martinez-Guevara departed the U.S. and was turned over to El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities where he is wanted for the offense of criminal conspiracy. He unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date and location without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by an immigration officer.



08/23/2018

CHERRY HILL, NJ



OPERATIONAL


ICE HSI Cherry Hill HERO to be honored by Philadelphia Eagles
The National Football League has partnered with the USO for more than 50 years to honor and celebrate servicemen and women, veterans and their families. For the Super Bowl Champion Eagles, the franchise has recognized local veterans at each home game for the past several years.



08/22/2018

NEW YORK, NY



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE removes 2 wanted by Salvadoran authorities to face criminal charges
Melvin Valencia-Menjivar, 38, wanted for aggravated homicide, and Joel Medina-Molina, 33, wanted for aggravated theft and illicit groupings charges, were removed from the United States via an ICE Air Operations Charter flight and transferred into the custody of Salvadoran law enforcement authorities.




08/22/2018

CLEVELAND, OH



CONTRABAND


2 Chinese nationals charged with operating global opioid conspiracy resulting in deaths
Fujing Zheng, aka Gordon Jin, 35, and his father Guanghua Zheng, 62, both of whom reside in Shanghai, China, are charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to import controlled substances into the United States, operating a continued criminal enterprise, money laundering and other crimes.



08/21/2018

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX



NARCOTICS


Southeast Texas teen sentenced to 19 years in prison for drive-by shooting, conspiracy to distribute synthetic narcotics
Moises Alvarado, 19, pleaded guilty to the charges May 16, 2018. On Aug. 21, Alvarado was sentenced to 108 months for the synthetic cannabinoid offense, as well as a 120-month consecutive term for discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Following his prison term, Alvarado must also serve three years of supervised release.



08/21/2018

WASHINGTON, DC



HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS


Former Nazi labor camp guard Jakiw Palij removed to Germany
Palij, 95, concealed his Nazi service by telling U.S. immigration officials that he had spent the war years working until 1944 on his father’s farm in his hometown, which was previously a part of Poland and is now in Ukraine, and then in a German factory.



08/20/2018

HOUSTON, TX



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Texas man sentenced in Houston to more than 37 years in federal prison for producing child pornography
In addition to his 448-month prison sentence, Ryan Glen Colburn, 25, Rosenberg, Texas, was further ordered to pay restitution to his three known victims.




08/20/2018

MIAMI, FL



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Florida man sentenced for traveling to Dominican Republic for child sex
According to court documents, Theodore Williams Symonds, 51, of Wesley Chapel, Florida, travelled frequently between the United States and the Dominican Republic including a trip on March 20, 2017. Symonds was arrested March 23, 2017 by local Dominican authorities for crimes related to the sexual abuse of children.



08/20/2018

HONOLULU, HI



FIREARMS, AMMUNITION AND EXPLOSIVES


Kauai man sentenced to 30 months in prison for illegally reentering the US after deportation and firearms offense
Navor Salas-Cruz, 45, a Mexican national residing on Kauai, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright today to 30 months of imprisonment for illegally reentering the United States after being deported, and for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.



08/16/2018

NEW YORK, NY



INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS


33 charged in half a billion dollar smuggling scheme of counterfeit luxury goods
33 individuals were charged Thursday following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) into a scheme to illegally bring into the United States millions of dollars of Chinese-manufactured goods by smuggling them through ports of entry on the East and West Coasts. One defendant is also charged with unlawful procurement of naturalization.



08/16/2018

TAMPA, FL



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Man charged with child pornography production, additional victims sought
According to the indictment, between 2015 and January 2017, William Matthew Napolitano, 35, of New Port Richey enticed and coerced a minor to engage in sexual activity. Napolitano is also charged with persuading a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography in June 2015.




08/15/2018

NEW YORK, NY



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE returns Romanian national convicted of providing support to a foreign terrorist organization
ERO deportation officers escorted Cristian Vintila, 47, to Romania via a commercial flight. Vintila was transferred to the custody of Romanian law enforcement authorities upon arrival in Bucharest.



08/15/2018

LOS ANGELES, CA



PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY


Former ICE special agent arrested on federal civil rights charges that allege he sexually assaulted 2 women
John Jacobs Olivas, 43, of Riverside, was arrested this morning without incident by special agents from the FBI and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).



08/14/2018

LOS ANGELES, CA



COUNTER PROLIFERATION INVESTIGATION UNIT


Los Angeles-area man pleads guilty in scheme to violate US sanctions against Syria
Rasheed Al Jijakli, 57, a Syrian-born naturalized U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna.



08/13/2018

BEAUMONT, TX



FIREARMS, AMMUNITION AND EXPLOSIVES


Honduran man sentenced to nearly 3 years in federal prison for illegally possessing firearm, shooting son of off-duty law enforcement officer
Santos Alfredo Paz-Ruiz, 42, was sentenced Aug. 13 to 33 months in federal prison for firearms violations. On May 10, 2018, Paz-Ruiz pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien unlawfully possessing a firearm.




08/13/2018

HOUSTON, TX



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE arrests 45 in Houston area during 5-day operation targeting criminal aliens, immigration fugitives
Of the individuals arrested during the operation, 15 had previously been removed (deported) and 42 had prior criminal convictions. Several had felony convictions for serious or violent criminal offenses, such as rape, child exploitation, robbery, drug trafficking and assault.



08/13/2018

NEWARK, NJ



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE removes El Salvadoran national wanted for murder
Brian Alejandro Martinez, who has also gone by the name Maximiliano Cornejo, departed the U.S. and was turned over to Salvadoran law enforcement authorities where he is wanted for the offense of homicide.



08/13/2018

DENVER, CO



NARCOTICS


Federal law enforcement in Colorado targets marijuana grown on federal land
More than 71,000 marijuana plants were removed from about 38 acres of Colorado public lands (not including the islands on the Colorado river) during last year’s growing season.



08/10/2018

SEATTLE, WA



NARCOTICS


Police seize date-rape drug, guns, other narcotics after undercover investigation at Belltown nightclub
Twelve people were arrested following an undercover narcotics investigation at the Foundation Nightclub in Belltown by the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).




08/10/2018

COVINGTON, KY



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Kentucky man sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography
Ryan J. Brock, 34, of Covington, previously admitted to sexually abusing a minor relative and producing photographs and videos of the abuse using a tablet device.



08/10/2018

NAIROBI, KENYA



OPERATIONAL


ICE HSI Nairobi, Kenyan National Police Service implement CyberTipline
After facilitating the December 2017 signing of the official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Government of Kenya (GOK) and NCMEC, HSI Nairobi partnered with both the AHTCPU and other stakeholders to ensure both the technical capacity and resources were in place to begin delivering actionable child exploitation leads to the GOK.



08/09/2018

NASHVILLE, TN



TRANSNATIONAL GANGS


Federal indictment of MS-13 gang members with murder in aid of racketeering
Oscar Degaldo Flores, a.k.a. Flaco, 24, of El Salvador, and Luis Colindres, a.k.a. Listo and Joe, 21, of Honduras, were also charged with conspiracy; witness tampering; using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and causing death through the use of a firearm.



08/09/2018

NEW YORK, NY



FINANCIAL CRIMES


12 charged in nationwide cellphone fraud scheme which caused million dollar losses
In connection with the fraud, the defendants and their associates improperly accessed more than 3,300 customers’ cellphone accounts, fraudulently obtained more than 1,200 cellphones, and caused losses exceeding $1 million.


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