Texas Man Sentenced in Heroin and Methamphetamine Smuggling Case

United States Attorney Sean P. Costello of the Southern District of Alabama announced that Francisco Jesus Ramirez, 26, of Brownsville, Texas, was sentenced today for his participation in a conspiracy to possess…

Former governor of Mexico’s 3rd largest state sent to prison for money laundering following ICE HSI investigation

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A former governor of Mexico’s third largest state was sentenced to three years in federal prison Wednesday in the Southern District of Texas for his role in a…

IPR Center to combat wildlife and natural capital trafficking with Grace Farms Foundation, Liberty Shared

WASHINGTON – The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) today announced dual partnerships with Grace Farms Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused ending modern slavery and violence, and Liberty Shared, a…

Portsmouth Woman Pleads Guilty to Fraudulently Obtaining Pandemic Unemployment Benefits for Virginia Prison Inmates

NORFOLK, Va. – A Portsmouth woman pleaded guilty today to her involvement in a fraudulent scheme to obtain over $300,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits by using the personal identifying information of over…

U.S. Attorney’s Office Seeks Temporary Restraining Order Against Minnesota Businessman Selling Counterfeit N95 Masks

EL PASO – Federal authorities in El Paso are seeking a civil injunction against 40-year-old Wayzata, Minnesota resident Scott Boynton and his business, Boynton Companies, Inc, d/b/a RELYmedia, in an effort to…

Snellville man arrested for fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship

ATLANTA – Mezemr Abebe Belayneh has been arraigned on criminal charges related to his alleged lies to obtain U.S. citizenship. The defendant allegedly concealed his involvement in the late 1970s Red Terror…

United States Attorney’s Office District of Arizona May 2021 Immigration and Border Crimes Report

I. Illegal Reentry After Deportation (8 U.S.C. 1326) 281 individuals were charged in May with illegal reentry A. 230 of those 281 individuals had previously been convicted of non-immigration criminal offenses in…

Former CEO Sentenced for Defrauding Multiple Federal Agencies

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – An Arlington businessman was sentenced today to 21 months in prison with three years of supervised release for making false statements to multiple federal agencies in order to fraudulently…

HSI El Paso investigation results in guilty pleas in mail fraud, aggravated identity theft scheme case

EL PASO, Texas — Two Dominican Republic citizens pleaded guilty June 7 to using stolen personal identification information to obtain high-end electronic devices, such as cell phones, laptop computers, tablets and watches.…

HSI Sells arrests 12, dismantles human smuggling network

SELLS, Ariz. — A 14-page indictment, unsealed Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, charges 12 people with various human smuggling and money laundering charges resulting from a…

ICE HSI, international law enforcement partners arrest over 85 in Operation Protected Childhood 8

WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in collaboration with Brazil Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) Secretariat for Integrated Operations (SEOPI) Cyber Laboratory, executed phase eight…

Individual In Texas And Felon In Puerto Rico Indicted For Illegal Firearms Trafficking

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Luis Rodríguez Cruz and Jason Morales de Jesús with firearms trafficking, sending and receiving firearms from out of…

Space Force seizes 30 kilos of cocaine on Cape Canaveral beach

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The U.S. Space Force has just competed its first major operation since being created by former President Donald J. Trump. In May, the space based defense force Space…

ICE announces extension, new employee guidance to I-9 compliance flexibility

WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced an extension of the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance that was initially granted last year. Due to the continued…

Ammunition smuggler sentenced to nearly 4 years in federal prison

TUCSON, Ariz. – Last week, a Mexican citizen living in Tucson was sentenced to 46 months in prison for attempting to smuggle ammunition from the United States into Mexico following an investigation…

HSI probe results in 2-year prison sentence for Orange County man who operated illegal ATM network that laundered Bitcoin and cash for criminals

SANTA ANA, Calif. — An Orange County man was sentenced Friday to 24 months in federal prison for operating an illegal virtual-currency money services business that exchanged up to $25 million –…

17 defendants charged in drug trafficking probe targeting heroin and cocaine sales in Chicago following HSI, local law enforcement, investigation

CHICAGO — A joint HSI and local law enforcement drug trafficking investigation has resulted in federal charges against 17 individuals for distributing or attempting to distribute heroin and cocaine, Thursday. During the…

HSI, Brazil Federal Police execute large-scale disruption of international arms trafficking organization

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Brazil Federal Police partnership resulted in the binational arrests of key members of a major Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) responsible for international…

Arizona man sentenced to 20 years following multi-agency drug investigation

RENO, Nev. — A Washoe County man was sentenced May 27 to 20 years in prison related to a drug trafficking conviction. The multi-agency investigation was led by the Regional Narcotics Unit, which…

HSI, law enforcement partners, investigation results in Seattle man being charged for attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization

SEATTLE – A Seattle man was arrested on Friday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on criminal charges related to his alleged efforts to join Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated…

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