I.C.E. News Release

OPERATIONAL

03/07/2016


ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending March 4, 2016




February 29, 2016 – ICE removes Salvadoran MS-13 gang leader wanted for murder, kidnapping

A Salvadoran MS-13 gang leader illegally present in the United States, who is wanted in his home country on murder, kidnapping and other charges, was removed from the United States by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Full Story

March 3, 2016 – ICE seizes $1.03M suspected drug money and private plane from Baltimore County airport

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Baltimore County Police Department, Maryland State Police and other members of a multi-agency task force seized $1.03 million in cash and a private aircraft. Full Story

March 1, 2016 – Former CBP officer sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison in bribery and smuggling scheme

A former supervisor with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who conspired with his ex-wife to smuggle goods into the United States in exchange for bribes has been sentenced to 45 months in prison. Full Story

March 2, 2016 – ICE, CBP team with international authorities in key operation

Mexican authorities executed dozens of verification warrants, seizing thousands of counterfeit sports-related items from retail outlets, and Hong Kong customs officials conducted anti-counterfeiting enforcement actions at the border and inland level, leading to one arrest, as part of a major operation developed by ICE-led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center). Full Story

February 29, 2016 – ICE arrests 2 for attempted sexual enticement of a minor

Two individuals charged with attempted sexual enticement of a minor were arrested in Toa Baja and San Juan. ICE’s HSI conducted the investigation that spurred the arrests. Full Story

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ic...g-march-4-2016
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I.C.E. News Releases


03/07/2016

RICHMOND, VA


HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


Victim assistance specialist, special agent speak to University of Richmond students
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Victim Assistance Specialist Dede Wallace and Special Agent Matthew Rosenberg were guest speakers at the University of Richmond School of Law in Richmond, Virginia, Tuesday, March 1.


03/07/2016

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, IL



FINANCIAL CRIMES


St. Louis woman sentenced for structuring financial transactions
Kyong Suk Kipilla, 58, of St. Louis, Missouri, was sentenced March 4 to two years' probation and fined $20,000 for illegally structuring financial transactions.


03/07/2016

EL PASO, TX



CHILD EXPLOITATION


El Paso man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for receiving, distributing child pornography
David Aaron Diaz, 35, was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release after he completes his prison term.


03/07/2016

WASHINGTON, DC



OPERATIONAL


ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending March 4, 2016
ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending March 4, 2016



03/04/2016

MCALLEN, TX



CHILD EXPLOITATION


South Texas man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for producing child pornography with his own young relatives
Raul Casarez, 35, from Weslaco, Texas, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, which will be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. The court also ordered a total of $9,500 in restitution for all of the identified victims in this case.


03/04/2016

CHICAGO, IL



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


Chicago deportation officer receives prestigious award at Pentagon
Bahena’s efforts – and those of the nearly 200 servicemen and women in the Army National Guard’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in Normal, Illinois – were recognized Feb. 26, 2016 at the 16th Annual Reserve Family Readiness Award ceremony at the Pentagon.


03/04/2016

EL PASO, TX



TRANSNATIONAL GANGS


Barrio Azteca gang member sentenced in El Paso, Texas, to 10 years in federal prison on RICO, drug trafficking, money laundering convictions
Roberto Meza, 40, was the 17th and final defendant to be sentenced to federal prison as a result of this multi-agency investigation.


03/04/2016

DALLAS, TX



CHILD EXPLOITATION


North Texas man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for producing and distributing child pornography
Charles Richard Burks, 67, of Mansfield, Texas, has been in custody since his arrest in July 2015 on a related federal criminal complaint, following the execution of a search warrant at his residence.



03/03/2016

BROWNSVILLE, TX



NARCOTICS


2 South Texas women receive 6- and 20-year federal prison sentences for smuggling large amounts of methamphetamine
Crystal Yvette Martinez, 25, and Tina Marie Trevino, 24, both from Brownsville, were sentenced to 240 months and 75 months in federal prison, respectively.


03/03/2016

BALTIMORE, MD



CONTRABAND


ICE seizes $1.03M suspected drug money and private plane from Baltimore County airport
On the evening of March 1, task force members observed suspicious activity surrounding a recently landed private aircraft. Following a K-9 inspection of the aircraft exterior and baggage, a search warrant was executed and several bundles of U.S. currency were recovered.


03/03/2016

TALLAHASSEE, FL



DOCUMENT AND BENEFIT FRAUD


Cyberstalker sentenced to 10 years in federal prison
Michael Daniel Rubens, 31, formerly of Tallahassee, admitted between January 2012 and January 2015, he publicly humiliated dozens of young women by hacking into their online accounts, including email and social media, stealing photographs and other personal information, using the photographs to create pornography, and posting the pornographic images on social media websites and on a revenge pornography website that was recently shut down by the FBI.


03/03/2016

MOSCOW, RUSSIA



CULTURAL PROPERTY, ART AND ANTIQUITIES INVESTIGATIONS


ICE returns Stalin letter, Peter the Great decree and more to Russian Federation
The repatriated documents include: a signed order from Josef Stalin issued on March 14, 1944; a decree signed by Peter the Great; numerous decrees signed by empresses and emperors dating from 1736-1893; and 17 drawings by Russian architect Yakov Chernikov.



03/03/2016

EL PASO, TX



ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL


ICE El Paso removes Mexican fugitive wanted for 2011 homicide
Juan Saul Mendoza-Contreras, 29, also known as “El Chacala,” was turned over to Mexican authorities at the international boundary on El Paso’s Stanton Bridge Port of Entry.


03/02/2016

WASHINGTON, DC



INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS


ICE, CBP team with international authorities in key operation
The international collaboration was part of Operation Team Player, an ongoing effort targeting the illegal importation of counterfeit sports-related merchandise, which culminated last month in San Francisco, California, ahead of Super Bowl 50.


03/02/2016

PITTSBURGH, PA



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Pennsylvania priest sentenced to over 16 years following ICE child sex tourism probe
In addition to the prison term, Joseph D. Maurizio Jr., 70, of Central City, Pennsylvania was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and $10,000 in restitution to each of the two minor victims.


03/02/2016

SANTO DOMINGO,DOMINICAN REPUBLIC



OPERATIONAL


Deputy Director visits the Dominican Republic to mark TCIU anniversary
Deputy Director Ragsdale noted that the original agreement between our nations to dedicate resources and personnel to a committed relationship helped revolutionize investigations of transnational criminal organizations that were operating seamlessly between the United States and the Dominican Republic.



03/02/2016

WASHINGTON, DC



COUNTER PROLIFERATION INVESTIGATION UNIT


Former CEO sentenced to more than 7 years for illegally exporting technology equipment to China, money laundering
In addition to his prison sentence, Louis Brothers, 63, of Covington, Kentucky, must also pay a monetary judgment of $1.1 million.


03/02/2016

ABILENE, TX



NARCOTICS


West Texas man sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for methamphetamine trafficking
Ruben Soliz, 24, from Abilene, Texas, had pleaded guilty in December 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine. Three co-defendants also charged in the case, Abilene residents, Andrew Dean Cruz, 30, and Roberto Carlos Villarreal, 31; and San Angelo, Texas, resident, Richard Louis Martinez, 27, each pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.


03/01/2016

LOS ANGELES, CA



PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY


Former CBP officer sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison in bribery and smuggling scheme
Sam Herbert Allen Jr., 54, of San Juan Capistrano, was sentenced late Monday. Allen pleaded guilty in February 2015 to conspiring to defraud the United States by deceitful and dishonest means. The charges stem from a probe by ICE OPR, ICE HSI and CBP OPR.


03/01/2016

BOSTON, MA



DOCUMENT AND BENEFIT FRAUD


Irish national pleads guilty to misuse of Social Security number
On March 20, 2013, Francis J. Moloney, fraudulently obtained a driver’s license using the identity and Social Security number of an Irish national and former permanent legal resident, after that person renounced his legal status in the United States and returned to Ireland.



03/01/2016

SAN DIEGO, CA



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Former San Diego-area substitute teacher sentenced to 7 years in prison for child pornography
Alejandro Castillo, Jr., 36, of Chula Vista, was arrested on a federal child pornography charge in April 2015 by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Castillo pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography in September 2015.


03/01/2016

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX



CHILD EXPLOITATION


Southeast Texas man pleads guilty to distributing child pornography
Jorge Betancourt, 37, of Robstown, Texas, pleaded guilty to the charges March 1. Senior U.S. District Judge Hayden Head set sentencing for May 25. At that time, Betancourt faces a minimum of five and up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.


03/01/2016

HOUSTON, TX



HUMAN SMUGGLING/TRAFFICKING


Houston-area couple indicted for enslaving Nigerian woman
Chudy and Sandra Nsobundu, 56 and 50, respectively, are charged with forced labor, withholding documents, visa fraud, and conspiracy to harbor and harboring an illegal alien. They were originally charged by criminal complaint Feb. 4 and arrested four days later.


02/29/2016

FORT WORTH, TX



NARCOTICS


North Texas cocaine trafficker receives statutory maximum 20-year federal prison sentence
Josimar Badillo-Ortiz, 29, from Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced Feb. 26 by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to 240 months in prison. Badillo-Ortiz’s two co-conspirators, Joel Gonzalez-Oviedo, 25, and Juan Carranza-Moreno, 31, both from Fort Worth, are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge McBryde March 25.

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