Right Side News reports from ICE......
May 7, 2010
Former Boy Scout leader indicted on child pornography charges
ORLANDO, Fla. - An indictment unsealed in federal court on May 6 charged Adam Lee Brigham, 26, of Valkaria, Fla., with four counts of production of child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. During Brigham's detention hearing, the court was notified that he has been a leader with the Boy Scouts in Brevard County. If convicted, Brigham faces up 30 years in federal prison on each count. Read More..
May 6, 2010
Initiative nets $143 million in Cisco goods
WASHINGTON - Operation Network Raider, a domestic and international enforcement initiative targeting the illegal distribution of counterfeit network hardware manufactured in China, has resulted in 30 felony convictions and more than 700 seizures of counterfeit Cisco network hardware and labels with an estimated retail value of more than $143 million. The results of the operation were announced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Alan Bersin, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and Assistant FBI Cyber Division Director Gordon Snow. In addition to the convictions and seizures, CBP reports a 75 percent decrease in seizures of counterfeit network hardware at U.S. borders from 2008 to 2009. Nine individuals are currently facing trial and another eight defendants are awaiting sentencing. Read More..
ICE deports Iraqi national with ties to Al Qaeda operatives
SEATTLE - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) today announced that an Iraqi citizen, who had ties to an Al Qaeda leader and was deemed a national security risk by a federal immigration judge, an administrative appeals court and a federal appeals court, was recently removed to his native country. Sam Malkandi, 51, was living in Kirkland, Wash., in 1999 when he attempted to fraudulently obtain a U.S. visa for Tawfiq bin Attash to travel here and purportedly receive medical treatment. Bin Attash, also known as "Khallad," was a trusted lieutenant and former bodyguard of Osama bin Laden, and is suspected of planning the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
During Malkandi's hearings before a federal immigration judge, ICE attorneys introduced evidence that Malkandi committed fraud against the U.S. government in order to obtain immigration benefits for himself and his family. ICE attorneys also presented evidence linking Malkandi to Khallad and argued that there are reasonable grounds for regarding Malkandi as a danger to the security of the United States. In February 2006, the immigration judge ordered Malkandi removed to Iraq. Read More..
ICE and Longmont PD arrest alien wanted for murder in Mexico
LONGMONT, Colo. - Special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and officers from Longmont Police Department on Wednesday arrested a man wanted in Mexico for a 2009 murder.
Ricardo Padilla-Chavez, 25, from Mexico, was suspected of illegally re-entering the United States after he had been deported in January 2007 as a convicted aggravated felon. Padilla-Chavez was convicted of felony burglary in Jefferson County, Colo., in August 2001 and sentenced to serve 16 years in prison. He was paroled after serving only five years.
"This significant arrest demonstrates law enforcement cooperation and partnership at their best," said Kumar Kibble, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Denver. "ICE prioritizes our resources to specifically target criminal aliens like Padilla-Chavez who pose the greatest threat to public safety." Read More..
Heads of Canadian alien smuggling organization sentenced
BURLINGTON, Vt. - On May 3, Jose Manuel Galdamez-Serrano, 56, Norvin Gonzalez-Morales, 29, Ruben Damas-Hernandez, 31, and Emmanuel Antonio Galdamez, 27, of Montreal, Quebec, were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Burlington following their guilty pleas to alien smuggling offenses. The defendants were extradited to the United States from Canada to face the charges contained in the indictment. Read More..
ICE arrests Puerto Rican man who posed as a federal officer
Man posing as a federal recruiter defrauded over 50 individuals obtaining their identification documents and money, illegally making more than $10,000
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) special agents arrested on May 6 Wilson Santiago Hernández, on charges of allegedly impersonating a former U.S. Customs Service and Department of Agriculture employee to fraudulently obtain moneys and identification documents from individuals while promising them federal government employment. Read More..
May 4, 2010
137 criminal aliens arrested in Ohio during ICE's Operation Cross Check
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 137 criminal aliens and fugitives in central and southern Ohio over a four-day period ending late Monday.
The operation targeted foreign-born criminals and fugitives in violation of immigration laws. The arrests were made in the Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati metro areas.
Removing criminal aliens is a top ICE priority," said Rebecca Adducci, field office director for the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) for Michigan and Ohio. "ICE's Operation Cross Check targets cases involving immigration violators who pose a threat to national security and community safety. Foreign nationals who violate our laws and commit crimes in our communities will be found and removed."
ICE was assisted in the operation by the officers from the following agencies: Columbus Police Department, Franklin County Sheriff, Butler County Sheriff, Morrow County Sheriff, Hamilton Police Department, Mount Vernon Police Department, Beavercreek Police Department and Union Township Police Department.
All 137 arrested were either fugitives, re-entered after having been previously removed, or have been convicted of other crimes in the United States. Because of their serious criminal histories and prior immigration arrest records, at least 25 of those arrested during the enforcement surge face federal prosecution. A conviction for felony reentry carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Criminal histories included fraud, assault, larceny and domestic violence among other crimes.
Any of the foreign nationals arrested during this operation who have active warrants will be referred to the associated local law enforcement agency and ICE will place detainers to ensure they return to ICE custody following disposition of their criminal cases. Those who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future.
This week's special enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE's Fugitive Operations Program, which is responsible for locating, arresting, and removing at large criminal aliens and immigration fugitives - aliens who have ignored final orders of deportation handed down by the nation's immigration courts. ICE's Fugitive Operations Teams give top priority to cases involving aliens who pose a threat to national security and public safety, including members of transnational street gangs and child sex offenders. This week's operation focused on the apprehension of criminal aliens, which are not necessarily fugitives.
The officers who conducted this week's special operation received substantial assistance from ICE's Fugitive Operations Support Center (FOSC) located in South Burlington, Vt. The FOSC conducted exhaustive database checks on the targeted cases to help ensure the viability of the leads and accuracy of the criminal histories. The FOSC was established in 2006 to improve the integrity of the data available on at large criminal aliens and immigration fugitives nationwide. Since its inception, the FOSC has forwarded more than 550,000 case leads to ICE enforcement personnel in the field.
This week's enforcement operation is just one facet of the Department of Homeland Security's broader strategy to heighten the federal government's effectiveness at identifying and removing dangerous criminal aliens from the United States. As a result of this strategy, ICE removed a total of 136,126 criminal aliens from the United States last year, a record number.
