May 28, 2010
First ICE charter lands in Iraq
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention and Removal Operations, in a charter flight to the Middle East, which made stops in Cape Verde, Lebanon and, for the first time, Iraq, removed 31 men with final orders of removal, including two men to Cape Verde, six to Lebanon and 23 to Iraq. Among those being removed were individuals of national security interest.
Many of the other men on the flight had serious U.S. and foreign criminal convictions for offenses including murder, aggravated assault, burglary, possession of assault weapons and sale or possession of controlled substances.
The removal was coordinated by ICE Detention and Removal Operations with ICE's Office of International Affairs and the ICE Office of Principal Legal Advisor National Security Law Division. Read More
May 28, 2010
ICE, CBP and DEA agents intercept methamphetamine precursor chemicals
BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations in Buffalo today announced the seizure of a variety of precursor chemicals and cold medication used in the production of methamphetamine from a 29-year old Clymer, N.Y., man. The seizure resulted in the federal arrest of U.S. citizen, Thomas Oldani. Read More..
May 28, 2010
Charlotte ICE gang operation yields 12 arrests
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents assigned to the Charlotte Gang Unit continue making arrests in North Carolina with its recent weekend effort yielding 12 arrests and the seizure of cocaine, marijuana and brass knuckles.
Among the 12 arrests last weekend were four gang members and affiliates: one Asian Boyz gang member, two MS-13 gang members and one MS-13 affiliate. All four are foreign-born nationals from Vietnam, Uruguay and Honduras. One is a naturalized U. S. citizen, one has lawful residency status and the other two are illegally present in the country. Two face state charges and two face immigration charges. Read More..
May 28, 2010
Man pleads guilty to illegally cashing checks for local construction company
OCALA, Fla. - Andrew D. Lemine, 54, of Paisley, Fla., pled guilty on May 27 to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
He faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
Lemine is the owner of Sorrento Grocery in Sorrento, Fla. Although he did not have a license from the State of Florida to operate as a money transmitter, Lemine cashed approximately $4 million in checks at his store between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2008, from employees of a local construction company, John Trubenbach Construction (JTC). Read More..
May 28, 2010
Philadelphia man extradited from Cyprus to face charges of sex tourism in the United States
International law enforcement agencies work together in bringing Schneider to face justice in U.S.
PHILADELPHIA - Kenneth Schneider, 45, the founder and president of the Apogee Foundation, arrived in Philadelphia today after being extradited from Cyprus to face charges on child sex tourism-traveling for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor, and transporting a person for criminal sexual conduct. Schneider was arrested March 27, 2010, in Larnaca, Cyprus.
The investigation into Schneider's alleged criminal activity was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations in Philadelphia, ICE Attaché Moscow, ICE Attaché Athens, the FBI, Interpol and the Investigative Committee of the General Procuracy of the Russian Federation.
According to the two-count indictment unsealed on March 30, 2010, in Philadelphia, Schneider traveled to Moscow, Russia, in the summer of 1998 where he told two ballet instructors at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography that he was willing to provide "assistance" to students attending the academy. The instructors identified a 12-year-old student whose family could no longer afford to pay his board.
Schneider allegedly convinced the boy's parents to allow him to live with Schneider in an apartment a few blocks from the school. The indictment further alleges that from the fall of 1998 until 2004, Schneider engaged in a sexual relationship with the victim, bringing the victim to Philadelphia for a summer program in 2001, returning to Moscow with the victim in August 2001 to continue the sexual relationship.
If convicted, Schneider faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 15 years on the count of traveling for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor, and a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison on the charge of transporting a person for criminal sexual conduct.
The successful extradition was facilitated by the ICE Athens office working in concert with Cypriot authorities, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Embassy.
