Southern District of California

SAN DIEGO – Sowda Ahmed Mohamud, a citizen and national of Somalia, was sentenced in federal court today after pleading guilty to a three-count indictment charging her with false statements in immigration documents (asylum fraud) and false statements in her testimony before an immigration judge.

According to court documents, the charges arose from a year-long counter-terrorism investigation by the FBI San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force (FBI-JTTF).  On March 20, 2024, U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Mohamud after she illegally entered the U.S. and claimed asylum.  During routine processing and checks of government data bases, agents determined that Mohamud was a positive match for an individual suspected of being involved in terrorism or terrorism-related activities.  The FBI-JTTF then conducted an extensive investigation of Mohamud and her relatives living in the U.S. and abroad. Evidence developed in this investigation was used in Mohamud’s immigration proceedings, which resulted in the immigration judge dismissing her claim for asylum and withholding from removal with prejudice and ordering her removed from the U.S.   

According to the plea agreement, in her asylum application and sworn testimony at her removal proceedings, Mohamud falsely claimed that: (1) she had never previously applied for lawful status in the U.S. or any other country, when in fact she had previously attempted to apply for lawful status in the United Kingdom, the U.S. and Brazil; and (2) she fraudulently and intentionally withheld that she had a biological sister, who was residing in the U.S. pending a determination of her own immigration petition.

According to court documents, as a result of the identification of Mohamud’s sister, agents were also able to determine that Mohamud also intentionally failed to state that she had a brother, Mohamed Ahmed Qahiye, a high-ranking member of the foreign terrorist organization ISIS-Somalia, who was engaged in obtaining money and weapons for that terrorist organization.  In November 2022, the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) placed Qahiye on OFAC’s Specially designated National and Blocked Persons (SDN) list for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, ISIS-Somalia. In the SDN designation, OFAC stated that in early 2020, Qahiye and Sheikh Mumin, the leader of ISIS-Somalia, met with Iranian nationals who paid more than $10,000 to ISIS-Somalia leadership. Separately, ISIS-Somalia senior leaders Qahiye and Mumin requested an arms shipment from Yemen that included more than 20 boxes of AK-47 ammunition, a dozen boxes of pistol ammunition, several boxes of rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and a Russian-designed machine guns.

Mohamud, who was detained in immigration custody for approximately 15 months prior to being charged in this case, was sentenced to a time-served sentence of 48 days and will be removed from the United States.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the integrity of our immigration courts by prosecuting those individuals who seek to game our asylum laws through false and fraudulent claims,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, adding that, “the prosecution of Mohamud for asylum fraud also represents our commitment to ensuring that individuals who might pose a threat to our national security due to their family ties to foreign terrorist organizations are swiftly removed from the United States.”

“Thanks to the efforts of the FBI San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force, Mohamud will be held accountable for her deliberate and fraudulent attempt to undermine our immigration system,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “This case demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to rooting out anyone with potential ties to known foreign terrorist organizations intent on harming the United States. I commend the JTTF for their thorough investigative work to keep our communities safe."

"The defendant in this case is alleged to have falsified immigration documents, an act that constitutes a felony and undermines the integrity of our nation's lawful immigration system," stated Shawn Gibson, Special Agent in Charge for HSI San Diego. "This investigation serves as a clear reminder that HSI and our law enforcement partners are firmly committed to apprehending individuals who seek to reside in our nation under false pretenses, regardless of where they attempt to hide.”

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 25cr2049                                           

Sowda Ahmed Mohamud                              Age: 27

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

False Statements in Immigration Documents - Title 18 U.S.C., § 1546 (a) [Count1]

False Statements to a Department of the United States - Title 18 U.S.C., § 1001(a)(2) [Counts 2 and 3]

Maximum penalties: Count 1 – 10 years

Counts 2 & 3 – 5 years, each

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Homeland Security Investigation

Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Border Patrol

Drug Enforcement Administration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 76 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On July 20, Adrian Arturo VILLAR-Chavez (VILLAR), was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, VILLAR applied for entry through Andrade, California Port of Entry driving a black Mercedes. Upon inspection of the vehicle, Customs and Border Protection officers found 75.38kg (166.18 pounds) of methamphetamine concealed in the vehicle.
• On July 24, Juan Roberto CRUZ-Quinonez, a Guatemalan national, was arrested and charged with Transportation of Illegal Aliens. According to a complaint, U.S. Border Patrol Agents were conducting a pro-active patrol of State Route 94 when they observed a suspicious vehicle driving eastbound. Following a traffic stop on the suspicious vehicle, U.S. Border Patrol Agents identified the driver of the vehicle as CRUZ, who was attempting to transport two illegal aliens within the United States for financial gains.
• On July 24, Alberto LOPEZ-Salazar, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, LOPEZ was attempting to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry by hiding under a blanket in the rear of a vehicle. LOPEZ was discovered by Customs and Border Protection officers after the officers noticed two adult males hiding in the rear of the vehicle. The defendant has a criminal history in the U.S. and had previously been deported to Mexico twice, the most recent deportation being in June 2025.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here is one of those cases:

• On July 25, 2025, Perla IBARRA Rodriguez, a Mexican national who is a permanent resident of the United States, was sentenced to 27 months in custody for smuggling more than 20 pounds of fentanyl into the United States. While on bond in this case, IBARRA was charged in San Bernardino County in a separate incident for possessing methamphetamine for sale, transporting methamphetamine, and willfully causing or permitting any child to suffer.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Benito Lopez of San Diego pleaded guilty in federal court today to possession with intent to distribute more than two kilograms of cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Lopez admitted the nearly $60,000 that investigators seized from his residence were drug dealing proceeds and has agreed to forfeit that money to the United States.

According to court documents, officers with the San Diego Police Department’s Gang Suppression Unit were conducting surveillance at a residence occupied by Lopez. While surveilling the residence, officers observed Lopez approach three different vehicles to conduct what appeared to be hand-to-hand transactions in less than an hour. During each transaction, Lopez exchanged small white objects for money with the occupants of each vehicle.

A subsequent traffic stop of Lopez’s vehicle revealed him to be in possession of multiple bags containing golf-ball sized amounts of cocaine. At the time of the traffic stop, Lopez was on parole for a state drug trafficking conviction and subject to search as a condition of his parole. Investigators with the San Diego Police Department conducted a parole search of Lopez’s residence and found two additional kilograms of cocaine, digital scales, empty plastic baggies, a loaded firearm .40 caliber Smith & Wesson firearm, and $59,246.00.

As part of his plea agreement, Lopez admitted he intended to distribute the cocaine seized from his residence and that the cash investigators found was money he made selling drugs. Lopez further admitted to knowingly possessing the loaded Smith & Wesson firearm despite previously being convicted of a felony crime, including a 2023 conviction for unlawful firearm possession and a 2024 conviction for possession of cocaine for sale, as alleged in the criminal complaint.

DEFENDANT                                    Case Number 25CR2207

Benito Lopez                                      Age: 30                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Possession with Intent to Distribute 500 Grams and More of Cocaine — 21 U.S.C. §841(a)(1)

Maximum Penalty: Forty years in prison with a minimum of five years in prison and a $5 million fine

Felon in Possession of a Firearm — 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1)

Maximum Penalty: Fifteen years in prison and a $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

San Diego Police Department

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 84 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On July 11, Nicolas Duarte-Moreno, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Duarte-Moreno was arrested by Customs and Border Protection officers after he attempted to enter the U.S. in a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder through a Sentri lane at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry with an undocumented immigrant hiding in the vehicle. Officers found the immigrant from Guatemala concealed in the cargo area where the convertible top retracts. While CBP officials dismantled the cargo area by removing bolts and speakers to find and extricate the immigrant, he complained that he could not breathe. He was immediately taken to a hospital.
• On July 15, Luis Angel Galvez Alvarez, Julio Cesar Oros Castro and Francisco Javier Castro Acosta, all Mexican citizens, were arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, the trio attempted to enter the U.S. about the same time, each driving a Freightliner tractor through the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped each vehicle; they found about 29 pounds of cocaine concealed in the walls behind the beds of each tractor. The complaint said all three drivers admitted they were employed by the same trucking company.
• On July 16, Jorge Ismael Valencia-Julian, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Valencia-Julian was arrested by a Border Patrol agent who tracked his footprints for five hours as the defendant tried to escape in rough terrain. Valencia-Julian was previously deported in March 2024 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On July 11, 2025, Ricardo Velez-Torres, a Mexican National who was previously convicted of Burglary in the First Degree in 2006 and Illegal Reentry in 2002, was sentenced in federal court to 21 months in custody for again entering the U.S. illegally.
• On July 18, Julio Leyva-Solis, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of the felony facilitation of human smuggling, felony theft of property on three occasions, and felony possession of methamphetamine, was sentenced in federal court to 12 months plus one day in custody for again entering the U.S illegally.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Prolific drug dealer Bryan Kim Bullard, who supplied fentanyl to 25-year-old Danielle Good of Carlsbad and failed to seek help for over an hour while she lay dying of an overdose in a bathtub, was sentenced today in federal court to 20 years in prison.

“This tragic case highlights not only the defendant’s role in a young woman’s death, but also his chilling lack of humanity during her final moments,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “Those who knowingly and repeatedly risk the lives of others by distributing fentanyl will face severe consequences.”

“The trafficking of fentanyl is not just a crime; it is an act of poisoning our communities, robbing families of their loved ones, and leaving behind a trail of grief and despair,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark.  “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family – no sentence can bring back their loved one, but her memory and their resilience, fuels our fight to combat this devastating crisis.”

During today’s hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Streja argued for the maximum 20-year sentence, saying Bullard showed extreme indifference and callous disregard for Danielle, whose final hours on September 9, 2023, were marked by neglect and exploitation.

Despite early signs of a medical emergency—Bullard requested Narcan at 11:17 p.m.—he did not call 9-1-1 until 12:22 a.m. and fled the scene before help arrived. During the critical delay, Bullard engaged in multiple Facebook video chats and sent disturbing messages, including a video showing the unconscious victim in the bathtub. He later referenced the incident casually in unrelated conversations, showing no remorse.

Not only did Bullard’s 9-1-1 call come more than an hour after his initial request for Narcan, but it was also nearly 40 minutes after telling a friend he was “in the middle of saving someone’s life,” and 14 minutes after sending the video..

During Bullard’s 9-1-1 call, he stated, “overdose, overdose,” and that he was calling from “…her phone…” While the dispatcher was trying to explain life saving measures, Bullard stopped talking, and the call ended.

San Diego Police officers were dispatched immediately, at approximately 12:23 a.m., to the Mission Valley apartment complex. The defendant fled the scene before police arrived.

In arguing for the statutory maximum sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Streja told the court that on the very afternoon of the day that Bullard watched Danielle overdose and left her to die, he responded to a drug customer on Facebook, confirming he had fentanyl for distribution. Bullard continued to be involved in the sale of controlled substances in the following days and months. Streja also emphasized that Bullard has an extensive criminal history, including acts of violence and narcotics-related convictions.

Streja argued that the defendant’s messages sent after watching Danielle die reflected his focus was the inconvenience her death caused him. “He has never once shown any evidence that he appreciates the fatal risk of fentanyl, that he appreciates what he did to Danielle’s family and all who loved her, or that he has any desire or capacity or wherewithal to change his behavior going forward.”

When handing down the strongest possible sentence, U.S. Chief District Judge Cynthia A. Bashant told the defendant he is “a one-man crime wave” who has been in custody for most of his adult life, and who continued to sell fentanyl despite watching Danielle die in front of him. “I’m shocked and astounded you continued to deal after causing the death of Danielle,” Judge Bashant said, agreeing with Streja’s characterization of the defendant as callous. “Nothing deters you from criminal conduct…I don’t know what else to do to protect the public.”

According to the government’s sentencing memo, Danielle was a young woman who in her short life had overcome pain, adversity, and her own trauma to bring joy and love to her family and all those around her. The victim impact statements submitted in connection with this case highlight the devastating impact of Bullard’s conduct on Danielle’s family members. They describe shattered lives and the indescribable, unrelenting pain of losing their loved one.

At the hearing, Danielle’s mother, Cheryl Good, took the podium holding an urn containing her daughter’s ashes. She described her family’s devastation at the loss of a young woman who was universally loved by all who knew her. She said Danielle had a “nurturing spirit, always caring for others,” and was an especially kind and compassionate daughter, sister, aunt, friend and volunteer who enjoyed visits with special needs children and elderly in need of companionship.

She urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence for the man “who did nothing to save my daughter’s life.” She later added: “My heart shattered when I learned that she had died alone…my grief is profound,” she said.

Special Agents and Task Force Officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Overdose Response Team (formerly known as Team 10) led the investigation. This case is the result of ongoing efforts by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the San Diego Police Department, the La Mesa Police Department, National Guard Counterdrug Task Force and the California Department of Health Care Services to investigate and prosecute the distribution of dangerous illegal drugs—fentanyl in particular—that result in overdose deaths. The Drug Enforcement Administration created the Overdose Response Team as a response to the increase in overdose deaths in San Diego County.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill S. Streja.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

DEFENDANTS                                              Case Number 24-cr-01063-BAS                             

Bryan Kim Bullard                                         Age: 44                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Distribution of Fentanyl

21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison 

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

San Diego Police Department

San Diego County District Attorney’s Office

Homeland Security Investigations

La Mesa Police Department

California Department of Health Care Services 

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 95 border-related cases this week so far, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On July 6, Lorenzo Arturo Bernabe-Alejo, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the U.S. after a Border Patrol agent spotted him lying on the ground about a quarter mile north of the border near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. According to a complaint, the defendant was previously deported on June 26, 2025, at the Calexico Port of Entry.
• On July 7, Luis Fernando Ramos-Mendez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain and Aiding and Abetting. According to a complaint, a Customs and Border Protection officer found an undocumented Mexican immigrant hiding in a modified rear bench seat compartment near the trunk of the defendant’s car as he attempted to cross at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On July 7, Refugio Ramos Daniel, a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, a Customs and Border Protection officer found 198 packages containing 200 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in a non-factory compartment in the bed of the defendant’s truck as he tried to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Also this week, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are some of those cases:

• On July 7, Eliseo Gonzalez Chaidez, a citizen of Mexico who previously was convicted of a federal immigration and a drug trafficking crime that resulted in an eight-year sentence, was sentenced in federal court to 24 months in custody for illegally reentering the United States.
• On July 9, Francisco Ramirez, a Mexican national, was sentenced in federal court to 36 months in custody for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Securities attorney Andrew Coldicutt was sentenced in federal court today to 85 months in prison for securities fraud, false securities registration statements, and wire fraud in connection with two pump-and-dump schemes.

U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta also ordered Coldicutt to pay $42,970 in forfeiture and a $100,000 fine.

Coldicutt was convicted by a federal jury in March on all 17 counts following a weeklong trial. According to evidence presented at trial, in the first scheme, Coldicutt worked with others from 2017 through 2019 to prepare and execute a pump-and-dump stock fraud scheme. Coldicutt created a business plan for a fake backyard fruit harvesting company. He prepared and filed securities registration statements with the SEC for an initial public offering of the company’s stock.

The securities registration statements contained false and misleading information about the company, its business plans, and the people who owned and controlled the company. Since Coldicutt was unwittingly working with undercover FBI agents and sources gathering evidence against him, no investors were injured.

In the second scheme, in 2019, one of Coldicutt’s corporate clients needed to raise money fast. Rather than raise money legally, Coldicutt presented the undercover FBI agents with another pump-and-dump stock fraud scheme. Coldicutt wrote a false attorney opinion letter to facilitate the sale of stock for the pump-and-dump scheme. However, a broker-dealer denied the stock transfer and again, no investors were injured.

A “pump and dump” scheme is a type of fraud where manipulators gain control over a company’s stock and boost a company's stock price by spreading false information or trading in a way that creates fake demand. Once the stock price is inflated, they sell off their shares (the “dump”), causing the price to drop and leaving investors with losses.

“Attorneys are expected to uphold the law, not exploit it,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “Today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable for abusing that trust and attempting to manipulate the market for personal gain.”

“Today’s sentence demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to hold accountable those who unlawfully pursue personal gain at the expense of the American people,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office. “Attorneys who exploit the system not only hurt potential victims. They also erode the community’s trust. The FBI will relentlessly investigate such criminals to protect our citizens and ensure justice is served.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has also taken civil action against Coldicutt.

DEFENDANT                        Case Number 22cr1881                                       

Andrew Coldicutt                    Age: 44                    San Diego, California

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Title 15, U.S.C., Sec. 77q, 77x – Securities Fraud

Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison

Title 15, U.S.C., Sec. 77g, 77x – False Securities Registration Statements

Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison

Title 18, U.S.C., Sec. 1343 – Wire Fraud

Maximum Penalty: Twenty years in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

SAN DIEGO – Carlos Abundez of San Ysidro, California, appeared in federal court today to face charges that he smuggled 14 live, bound Keel-billed toucans concealed inside the dashboard of his Volkswagen Passat.

Federal agents detained Abundez at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry after a Customs and Border Protection canine showed a change of behavior while screening the car. When a CBP officer further inspected the car, the officer found a bound bird, wrapped in cloth, duct taped to the underneath of the dash.

At the time, the officer did not know what the object was until it began to move and flutter. Officers then pried open the side panel of the dashboard and discovered a total of 14 sedated juvenile Keel-billed toucans concealed within the compartment.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents and inspectors responded to the scene.  A wildlife inspector identified the birds as Keel-billed toucans of the species Ramphastos sulfuratus. The 14 birds were identified as juveniles. Some had injuries including broken tails and a broken leg.

The birds were initially cared for by Veterinary Services at the southern border, before being transferred to a Department of Agriculture Animal Import Center for quarantine. The birds are now reported to be in stable condition.

Keel-billed toucans are native to southern Mexico down through Ecuador, including Venezuela, Columbia and Nicaragua. Because of their threatened status as a species, Keel-billed toucans are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (“CITES”), an international treaty among approximately 183 governments, including the United States and Mexico, to protect fish, wildlife, and plants that may become threatened with extinction. They are illicitly sold as pets and can cost up to $5,000 per bird.

The arrest follows the recent prosecution of three other individuals caught smuggling Amazon parrots and parakeets through the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro ports of entry, highlighting a troubling pattern of illegal wildlife trade through Southern California.

“Smuggling endangered birds by sedating them, binding their beaks, and hiding them in car compartments is not just cruel—it’s criminal,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This disturbing trend of trafficking exotic wildlife through Southern California ports poses a serious threat to public health and agriculture. These birds bypass mandatory quarantine and screening, potentially carrying devastating diseases like avian influenza. We will continue to investigate and prosecute those who treat living creatures as contraband and put our communities and ecosystems at risk.”

Avian influenza (bird flu), for instance, can spread through feathers, droppings, or even airborne particles and has previously caused massive culls of farm birds in the U.S. Bird flu is highly contagious and can cause flu like symptoms, respiratory illness, pneumonia and death in humans and other birds including birds in United States poultry farms.  Many other diseases that can be transmitted from different animals and can have disastrous effects, that is why it is necessary to quarantine animals entering the United States to limit and safeguard against this potential disease transmission.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Jimenez.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 25-mj-3726                           

Carlos Abundez                                              Age: 35                                   San Ysidro, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Smuggling Merchandise – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 545

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

Importation Contrary to Law – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 545

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 81 border-related cases this week so far, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On June 28, Wilmar Morales Ramirez, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested at the San Onofre gate of Camp Pendleton and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. He was previously deported to Mexico in December 2024.
• On June 29, Almida Ayala Torres, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, a dog alerted to her vehicle as she tried to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Customs and Border Protection officers found 85 packages containing 113 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the trunk hatch, driver’s side back door, passenger’s side back door, passenger’s side front door, center console, firewall, driver’s side quarter panel and passenger’s side quarter panel.
• On June 30, Daniel Yanez Arriaga, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry found that Yanez was hiding five pounds of fentanyl on his body when he attempted to cross the border in his car.
• On July 2, Fernando Ojeda Martinez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry found 52 packages containing 221 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the rear passenger’s quarter panel, driver’s side passenger’s quarter panel, spare tire and gas tank of the defendant’s car.

Also this week, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are some of those cases:

• On July 1, Anderson Fabricio Leon-Chirinos, a citizen of Honduras who was previously convicted of two federal immigration felony convictions as well as state robbery and batter convictions, was found guilty by a jury of Attempted Re-entry of Remove Alien for again reentering the U.S. illegally. Sentencing is scheduled for September 29, 2025; Leon-Chirinos faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
• On July 1, Anderson Fabricio Leon-Chirinos, a Honduran national who was previously convicted of felony Robbery in May 2014, and illegally re-entering the United States in 2018 and 2021, was found guilty by a jury of Attempted Reentry of Removed Alien for again entering the U.S. illegally. Sentencing is scheduled for September 29, 2025, and Leon-Chirinos faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
• On July 2, Juan Carlos Ojeda-Saldana, a Mexican national, was sentenced in federal court to 70 months in custody for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.
• On July 2, Ana Maria Rosas-Ortega, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of two illegal re-entry offenses (Texas 2014 and Arizona 2015), and misuse of a U.S. passport (California 2016), was sentenced in federal court to 46 months in custody for attempting to illegally reenter the United States.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Jonathan Tyler Gauthier, a prolific fentanyl dealer who kept selling the deadly drug despite the fatal overdoses of two customers within a four-month span, was sentenced in federal court today to 30 years in prison.

According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Gauthier sold the fentanyl that killed 24-year-old Sam Guest in September 2022 and 27-year-old Jesse White in December 2022. Gauthier continued selling fentanyl even after those deaths. As part of his February 2025 plea agreement, Gauthier admitted that the fentanyl he distributed caused their deaths.

Just before handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino told the defendant: “This is one of the most tragic cases I’ve had in my courtroom in a long time.”

“Even after two people lost their lives, the defendant kept pushing poison for profit,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This 30-year sentence sends a stark message: If you deal fentanyl and show no regard for the deadly consequences, you will be held fully accountable. No excuses. No second chances.”

“This sentencing reflects the serious consequences awaiting those who choose to flood our communities with deadly fentanyl,” said Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego. “HSI remains fully committed to holding these individuals accountable and continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners within the Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team (FAST) to remove this deadly threat from our neighborhoods.”

“This sentence is a resounding reminder that dealing deadly and dangerous drugs like fentanyl is not a victimless crime – two lives were lost, and countless others forever changed by one man’s choice to exploit the vulnerabilities of others,” said DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Jacob Galvan. “We thank our partners for their assistance in bringing Gauthier to justice and prosecuting him to the fullest extent of the law. The DEA will continue to pursue and hold accountable those who choose to profit by peddling deadly drugs.”

Sam’s mother described him as kind-hearted and full of joy. “To know Sam was to love Sam,” she said. In the wake of her loss, she holds onto memories of his infectious smile, his laughter, and the warmth he brought to others. Sam is deeply missed by his family, friends, and coworkers, all of whom continue to mourn his loss.

Jesse’s family remembered him as someone with a heart of gold. He had a passion for college football, a love of history, and a deep devotion to his family. He brought light into the lives of those around him—his parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends. He was especially close to his young niece, with whom he had been planning a special trip to the zoo. Jesse died in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. He had taken the week off from work to spend the holiday season with his loved ones.

In its sentencing memo, the government listed several reasons the defendant’s actions warranted the requested sentence:

·Gauthier knew the fentanyl he was selling was deadly. He had a long history of dealing the drug and was well aware of its dangers. He even acknowledged the potency of a specific batch he sold to Sam, texting him afterward, “Ur being careful.” Despite this awareness, he sold it anyway—with tragic and foreseeable results.

·Even after Sam’s fatal overdose, Gauthier kept dealing. He knew Sam had died from fentanyl he provided—referring to him as “my buddy” in texts—but continued selling the drug. Just three months later, he sold 10 fentanyl pills to Jesse, who died the next morning. This shows a chilling disregard for human life.

·Gauthier’s criminal record underscores his persistent drug activity. Despite prior convictions for robbery and narcotics offenses, including one just weeks after Sam’s death, he kept selling. Even after Jesse’s fatal overdose, he was caught in Las Vegas selling methamphetamine and offering other drugs to an undercover officer.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Fawcett.

Special Agents and Task Force Officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Overdose Response Team and the Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team (FAST) jointly led this investigation.

The Overdose Response Team is an ongoing effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the San Diego Police Department, the La Mesa Police Department, National Guard Counterdrug Task Force and the California Department of Health Care Services to investigate and prosecute the distribution of dangerous illegal drugs—fentanyl in particular—that result in overdose deaths. The Drug Enforcement Administration created the Overdose Response Team as a response to the increase in overdose deaths in San Diego County.

HSI San Diego FAST is a multiagency task force comprising state, local, and federal partners and was first established in August 2022 focusing on the disruption and dismantlement of criminal organizations that smuggle and distribute fentanyl within San Diego County. HSI’s FAST targets fentanyl smuggling and distribution networks to counter the rising overdose rate and decrease the availability and accessibility of fentanyl.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 24-CR-1383-JLS                              

Jonathan Tyler Gauthier                                 Age: 26                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Distribution of Fentanyl

21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison (per count)

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

Homeland Security Investigations

San Diego Police Department

California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force

California Department of Health Care Services

La Mesa Police Department

San Diego County District Attorney’s Office

High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program

SAN DIEGO – Jacobo Melcer, a Bonita resident and businessowner, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he conspired with others to defraud Medicare of millions of dollars and to pay unlawful kickbacks for patient referrals.

According to his plea agreement, Melcer submitted more than $5.88 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare through his ownership and operation of two durable medical equipment (DME) companies, which sold orthotics – including back, wrist, and knee braces – to Medicare beneficiaries.

Melcer admitted that in operating the DME companies, he paid unlawful kickback payments to multiple companies for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries and prescriptions for DME, knowing that the prescriptions were signed by physicians who had no legitimate doctor-patient relationship with the beneficiary and had not conducted a legitimate medical evaluation of the beneficiary.

In total, Melcer admitted that he paid more than $227,000 in kickbacks, and fraudulently billed Medicare $5,885,382 and was paid $3,479,303. As part of his guilty plea, Melcer agreed to forfeit and pay restitution in the amount of $3,479,303. 

Melcer further admitted that he created and sold two DME companies to a co-conspirator for the sole purpose of putting the ownership under a nominee owner to conceal the true ownership from Medicare due to Medicare suspending the co-conspirator as a Medicare provider and the co-conspirator’s inability to continue to submit claims to Medicare.

Melcer’s sentencing is scheduled for October 10, 2025. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blanca Quintero of the Southern District of California.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 25cr2568-DMS                                 

Jacobo Melcer                                                 Age: 85                                   Bonita, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and Pay Illegal Remunerations – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $500,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG)

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Sergio Josue Palomera of Chula Vista was sentenced in federal court today to 71 months in prison for smuggling undocumented immigrants in a manner that resulted in the deaths of the two people he was smuggling.

On October 22, 2024, Palomera picked up two undocumented immigrants —a man and a woman—in his car near the U.S.–Mexico border in Otay Mesa. Border Patrol agents saw this load-up using remote video surveillance, and an agent responded to the location. The agent saw Palomera’s car traveling west on State Route 905 and activated his lights and sirens to pull the car over.

According to his plea agreement, Palomera initially slowed down and began to move over onto a highway offramp, as if yielding to the Border Patrol agent’s attempt to pull him over. Palomera then quickly accelerated, drove through a red traffic light, and re-entered the highway in an attempt to flee. By the time the agent could safely proceed through the traffic light and onto the highway, Palomera had gained considerable distance. As he lost sight of the car, the agent decided to terminate the pursuit. Soon after, he saw a cloud of dust in the direction Palomera had been fleeing.

Palomera was traveling over 110 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone. In less than minute, Palomera lost control of the car and it rolled over. The smuggled woman was ejected from the car and died instantly. The smuggled man suffered a traumatic head injury and died from his injuries later that evening in the hospital.

At today’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson emphasized the “very aggravated” nature of the offense, noting that the crime “has deprived a little girl of her mother, has deprived that little girl’s father of his wife, and has deprived another family of their son.”

U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said: “This defendant treated human lives as disposable cargo - and two people paid the ultimate price. This sentence reflects the grave consequences of putting profit over people. We will continue to hold smugglers accountable for the death and suffering their crimes inflict.”

“We are glad Mr. Palomera will be held accountable for his irresponsible and senseless actions,” said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker. “This case emphasizes the dangers and possible consequences of entrusting your life to a human smuggler.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Fawcett.

DEFENDANT                                                            Case Number: 24cr2466                              

Sergio Josue Palomera                                               Age: 23                       Chula Vista, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Transportation of Certain Aliens Resulting in Death – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) and (B)(iv)

Maximum penalty: Death or life in prison; $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

United States Border Patrol

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the California Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 90 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On June 20, Jose Natalio Flores Avila, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, when the motorist attempted to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection Officers found 95 packages containing 103 pounds of methamphetamine, and one package containing 2.5 pounds of heroin, concealed in the firewall, driver’s side quarter panel, passenger side rear quarter panel, front bumper, driver’s side fender, passenger side fender and dashboard.
• On June 22, Jason Miguel Byrd-Gallegos and Jose Ricardo Ayala were arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain on a boat that was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard off Point Loma. Fidel Ayala-Romero, Jesus Briseno-Martinez, Jose Antonio Navarro-Alvarez and Jose Miguel Verduzco, who were among the passengers, were charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, the boat had 10 undocumented immigrants aboard, including the six defendants. All but one were determined to be citizens of Mexico; Byrd-Gallegos is a U.S. citizen.
• On June 23, Fernando Carillo Ramos was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the U.S. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found the defendant hiding in large bushes less than a mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The defendant had been previously deported to Mexico in December 2024.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here’s one of those cases:

• On June 27, Omar Esteban Garcia-Rodriguez, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of Assault with a Deadly Weapon/Great Bodily Injury in 2020, was sentenced in federal court to 18 months in custody for again entering the U.S illegally.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

LAS VEGAS – A federal jury has convicted Latonia Smith of cyberstalking and threatening two district court judges and a probation officer, all of whom were involved in her previous federal conviction for death threats she made against lawyers in yet another case.

In the current case, after a six-day trial and less than one day of deliberation, a jury found that Smith threatened U.S. District Judge Richard Franklin Boulware, who presided over Smith’s 2021 trial and sentenced her to 36 months in prison for that offense. The jury also found that Smith targeted U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey, who presided over the defendant’s supervised release, and Shawn Mummey, her probation officer.

At the time of the grand jury’s indictment in the current matter, Smith was on supervised release from that previous federal 2021 conviction. In that case, Smith targeted corporate lawyers involved in defending the 2017 firing of her mother from her job as a guest room attendant at the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas after she allegedly took a small amount of money from a guest’s room.

“All of these victims felt threatened and emotionally distressed. They then took steps to protect themselves and their families,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “Threats directed at members of the judiciary are not only criminal acts, but direct attacks on the rule of law. Intimidation of judges and court personnel erodes public trust and threatens the fair administration of justice for all.”

“The FBI takes threats of violence very seriously and works diligently to protect the communities we serve,” said Rafik Mattar, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Las Vegas, “We will not tolerate threats of violence to any member of our community, particularly those dedicated to safeguarding our democratic process. The defendant’s actions were dangerous and unacceptable. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and investigate those who engage in violent rhetoric—ensuring accountability for anyone who threatens to harass, intimidate, or harm others.”

When Smith was released from federal prison in the first case against her, she was sent to Washoe County jail to face allegations related to an October 31, 2019, armed home-invasion in Reno she allegedly committed against another lawyer involved in the Planet Hollywood case.

Smith was granted bail in early June 2022. Upon her return to Las Vegas, Smith immediately began searching Google for information about Judge Boulware along with his wife, Las Vegas City Councilwoman Nancy Brune, and their family. At the same time, she googled “judges should die.”

Over the next several weeks, the defendant became increasingly frustrated with judges and anyone involved with her prior federal case. On June 23, 2022, the defendant emailed her probation officer and explained, “Some good advice: Life is short, society should be careful who they piss off.” Below the warning, the defendant sent a link to a YouTube video showing a six-minute compilation of cell phone videos from the October 1 mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Over the next few days, Smith sent a series of emails. Some threatened a mass casualty event: “LET THE SHOW BEGIN. NEVADA IS GOING TO LOVE THIS!!!!”  Some were designed to let victims know their loved ones were in jeopardy: “LETS KEEP [YOUR KIDS] IN FOCUS”.

Throughout many of the emails, the defendant made it clear that she had deeply researched the recipients of her threats, accurately identifying where they could be found, either during hobby activities, or in their actual homes. For example, to Judge Jennifer Dorsey the defendant wrote: “Tell Jennifer, Henderson is nice I see why she chose that area. Lots of shops nearby. Smart.” At trial, Judge Dorsey testified that the defendant’s identification of her personal residence inspired her to immediately sell her home and move.

The victims of Smith’s threats testified at trial they were frightened and believed Smith was capable of violently acting on her threats as she had allegedly done in the pending case regarding the armed home invasion targeting the lawyer in Reno.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro reported Smith’s threats to U.S. Marshals, who protect the federal judiciary. Judge Navarro testified at the trial, telling the jury that she recognized the danger posed by the defendant and immediately took action.  “I emailed the chief of probation; anybody I could get a hold of to prevent a tragedy…I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want my family to die.  I didn’t want my coworkers to die.” The Marshals then contacted the FBI.

After two special agents from the FBI interviewed the Smith on June 27, 2022, she was immediately taken into custody, where she has remained. During the interview, when asked what she was thinking about when she was researching mass shooters, Smith responded: “I think what they were thinking.”

The investigation found that Smith, who has a biochemistry degree from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Googled phrases like “judges die,” “how to become a bomb maker,” “how to be a mass shooter,” “buying a gun,” and “ar 15 for sale.” She also watched the compilation of videos from the October 1 mass shooting 13 times over a three-week period.  At the same time, the defendant repeatedly searched the names of her targets, some of their children, and some of their home addresses. The jury deliberated for less than a day before returning a guilty verdict on three counts of cyberstalking for the emails sent to Judges Dorsey and Boulware, along with her probation officer. The jury acquitted the defendant on the other two counts of cyberstalking.

The defendant will remain in custody pending sentencing, on a date yet to be determined.

The trial took place in the federal courthouse in Las Vegas. The presiding judge was Senior District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman, from the District of Oregon. Judge Mosman was appointed to preside over the case by special designation of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Smith’s prosecution was initiated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, out of their office in Reno.  In March 2024, the Department of Justice recused the entire U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada and had the prosecution reassigned.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Haden and Francisco Nagel for the Southern District of California, both of whom were named Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Las Vegas after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada was recused.

DEFENDANT                                                Case Number 22CR051-MWM                              

Latonia Dyshawna Smith                               Age: 31                       Las Vegas, NV

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Three Counts of Cyberstalking – Title 18, U.S.C., Sections 2261A

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison, as to each count of conviction

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

SAN DIEGO – Alleged Sinaloa Cartel cell leader Brian Donaciano Olguin-Verdugo, aka Pitt, who is believed responsible for trafficking large amounts of cocaine into the United States from Mexico, appeared in federal court today following his extradition from Colombia.

Olguin-Verdugo was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of California in March 2021 for International Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine and Conspiracy to Import Cocaine. Olguin-Verdugo was apprehended by Colombian authorities in April 2022 while visiting Cali, and Colombia granted the United States’ extradition request in May 2025.

At today’s hearing, Olguin-Verdugo was arraigned and entered a not-guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill L. Burkhardt. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 20, 2025, for a motion hearing/trial setting in front of U.S. District Court Judge Todd W. Robinson.

“Those who export dangerous drugs to the United States and seek to evade justice will find no place to hide,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “The Department of Justice appreciates the cooperation of the Colombian authorities in this matter. The work of the Homeland Security Task Forces ensures that the extradition of high-level cartel targets will remain a top priority nationally, but especially in the Southern District of California.”

The Southern District of California prosecution in this case is part of a multi-year investigation that, in total, has resulted in charges against over 125 people and has had a significant impact on the worldwide operations of the Sinaloa Cartel. This investigation has also offered one of the most comprehensive views to date of the inner workings of one of the world’s most prolific, violent and powerful drug cartels. Cartel members and associates were targeted in this massive investigation involving multiple countries, numerous law enforcement agencies around the United States, a number of federal districts and over 250 court-authorized wiretaps in this district alone. The case is being prosecuted by this office’s Narcoterrorism Unit.

This case began in late 2011 as an investigation of what was at first believed to be a small-scale drug distribution cell in National City and Chula Vista. It became evident that the drugs were being supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel, and the case evolved into a massive multi-national, multi-state probe that resulted in scores of arrests and seizures of 1,397 kilograms of methamphetamine, 2,214 kilograms of cocaine, 17.2 tons of marijuana, 95.84 kilograms of heroin, and $27,892,706 in narcotics proceeds.

The Justice Department extends its gratitude to the Government of Colombia and its prosecutorial and law enforcement authorities for making the extradition possible. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia and the United States State Department provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s arrest and extradition from Colombia. The U.S. Marshals Service assisted in bringing the defendant back to the United States. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Sutton.

DEFENDANT                                                                                  Case Number 21cr862-TWR          

Brian Donaciano Olguin-Verdugo                                         Age: 41                        Culiacán, MX

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

International Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine for Purpose of Unlawful Importation, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 959, 960 and 963. Term of custody including a mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life imprisonment, $10 million fine.

Conspiracy to Import Cocaine, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 952, 960 and 963. Term of custody including a mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life imprisonment, $10 million fine.

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations

Customs and Border Protection Office of Border Patrol

United States Marshals Service

Department of Justice, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces

Department of Justice, Office of Enforcement Operations

Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs

Interpol

The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the California Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 83 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On June 14, Guillermo Navarro Cinco and Daniel Vazquez Mijares, both Mexican citizens and alleged captains of a smuggling boat, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain after they were intercepted by the U.S. Coast guard 25 miles off Point Loma. Librado Lopez Ramirez, who was also aboard the boat and had been previously deported to Mexico, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry After Deportation. According to a complaint, Navarro Cinco and Vazquez Mijares attempted to smuggle nine people – including Lopez Ramirez - on a small boat; some passengers said they didn’t know how to swim and feared for their lives as the boat faltered under excessive weight.
• On June 17, Erik Quintero Baez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, when the defendant attempted to cross the border in his tractor-trailer at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection Officers found three 20-liter jugs containing 167 pounds of liquid methamphetamine concealed in the cab.
• On June 18, Jose Julian Ugalde Ramos and Luis Adrian Carrillo Sandoval, Mexican citizens, were arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the United States. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents found the defendants hiding in large bushes less than a mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On June 20, Alejandro Arellano-Mejia, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony attempted murder, was sentenced to 15 months in custody for re-entering the U.S illegally. In 2014, a Frenso jury found Arellano-Mejia guilty of attempted murder for shooting another man in the chest with a shotgun following an altercation at an outdoor gathering.
• On June 20, Baltazar Mendoza-Giron, a Mexican national, was sentenced to 15 months in custody for illegally re-entering the United States. Part of his sentence was imposed for violating supervised release after a 2024 conviction for illegal reentry. Mendoza-Giron also has previous convictions for harassment, for attempting to elude a pursuing police officer in a vehicle, and for criminally negligent homicide.
• On June 20, Alejandro Arellano-Mejia, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to 15 months in custody for illegally reentering the U.S.
• On June 20, Josue Roberto Suarez Ruiz of Honduras and Jesus Ernesto Peinado Armenta of Mexico were sentenced to 14 months and 12 months and one day, respectively, for transporting undocumented immigrants in an incident that became a high-speed chase. The defendants failed to stop for Border Patrol agents and were ultimately apprehended after fleeing the vehicle and attempting to hide near trash cans on residential properties.
• On June 20, Victor Armando Pena was sentenced to 12 months and one day in custody for illegally reentering the United States. After serving a 17-year sentence for attempted murder with an enhancement for committing the act while actively participating in a criminal street gang, he was removed to Mexico on January 17, 2025, only to return illegally less than two weeks later on January 30, 2025. He was arrested by Border Patrol in Imperial Beach after he had illegally entered the U.S. via Jet Ski.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – John Washburn, general manager of San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings in El Cajon, pleaded guilty in federal court today to engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring undocumented immigrants without authorization to work.

As part of the plea agreement, Washburn admitted that he knew at least 10 workers were undocumented immigrants at the company, and that three were living in a company warehouse where U.S. Navy submarine components were being stored. These charges stemmed from a search warrant that was served by federal agents at the company’s warehouses in March of this year.

Washburn was immediately sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara L. Major to one year probation and 50 hours of community service.

According to the plea agreement, Washburn admitted he had communicated with other managers at San Diego Powder & Protective Coating about certain employees who had “issues” with their paperwork or “bad paperwork,” meaning some employees lacked valid documents showing they had legal authorization to work in the U.S.

In or around 2024, the defendant communicated with company officials regarding assigning employees with “good paperwork” to work at the military base because those employees would be subjected to additional screening prior to entering restricted areas on the base.

Homeland Security Investigations San Diego is investigating these cases with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General; GSA - Office of Inspector General; United States Border Patrol; Customs and Border Protection, ERO; NCIS; SBA – Office of Inspector General; Drug Enforcement Administration San Diego Field Division, and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.   

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry F.B. Beshar and Michael A. Deshong.

DEFENDANT                                                         Case Number 25mj1458-BLM

John Washburn                                                         Age: 57            

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Engaging in a Pattern or Practice of Employing Aliens, in violation of Title 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(a)(1)(A) and (f); Maximum Penalty: Six months in prison; $3,000 fine per alien.

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General

General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General

Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General

Enforcement and Removal Operations

Drug Enforcement Administration

Bureau Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

U.S. Border Patrol

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

This investigation is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in San Diego Friday alleging that 13 Guatemalan nationals are part of a Guatemala-based cocaine trafficking organization operating out of La Mesilla and Democracia, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, which is on the Guatemala-Mexico border.

The indictment was returned on May 31, 2019. Among the individuals charged are Baldemar Calderon-Carrillo, aka “Don Valde,” and his son, Walfre Donaldo Calderon-Calderon, aka “El Teniente Jr.”

On June 13, 2025, federal agents in San Diego received information that Calderon-Carrillo, the lead defendant in the indictment, had been killed during a June 8, 2025, shootout with Mexican authorities. U.S. agents continue to obtain information confirming the details of Calderon-Carrillo’s death. Video of the incident was posted on various news outlets and in social media showing Mexican law enforcement in a shootout with members of a drug trafficking organization.

In January 2023, one of Calderon-Carrillo’s sons, Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon, aka “Panon,” who is charged in the same indictment, was arrested in Paris, France. Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon was extradited to the United States from France in March 2024 and pleaded guilty in February 2025 to international cocaine distribution conspiracy charges.

As part of his plea agreement, Calderon-Calderon admitted that since at least 2017, up to and including May 31, 2019, he conspired with others to distribute cocaine in Guatemala and elsewhere, knowing and having reasonable cause to believe the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States.

Calderon-Calderon admitted that he participated in the distribution of large quantities of cocaine in Guatemala on behalf of a drug trafficking organization based in La Mesilla, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. From Huehuetenango, the cocaine was transported to co-conspirators operating near the Guatemala-Mexico border, into Mexico, and ultimately smuggled into the United States.  As part of his plea agreement, Calderon-Calderon admitted that the conspiracy involved at least 550 kilograms of cocaine. On May 30, 2025, Calderon-Calderon was sentenced to 87 months in prison.

The remaining defendants charged in the indictment are fugitives.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mokhtari. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and French authorities provided substantial assistance to secure the arrest and extradition of Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

DEFENDANTS                                                               Case Number 19-cr-2025-DMS              

Baldemar Calderon-Carrillo, aka “Don Valde”                     Age: 67           Guatemala

Amado Calderon-Calderon, aka “Don Juan”                         Age: 46           Guatemala

Walfre Donaldo Calderon-Calderon,  aka “El Teniente Jr.”  Age: 43           Guatemala

Ceidner Ivan Calderon-Villatoro, aka “Chene”                     Age: 35           Guatemala

Edgar Yovani Calderon-Calderon, aka “Panon”                    Age: 45           Guatemala

Boris Brandon Calderon-Villatoro, aka “Leon”                     Age: 31           Guatemala

Fredy Estuardo Villatoro-Calderon, aka “Nalo”                    Age: 31           Guatemala

Juan Carlos Escobedo-Herrera, aka “Ducati”                        Age: 34           Guatemala

Marvin Waldemar Mendez-Aldana, aka “Don Pelado”         Age: 44           Guatemala

German Zaldana-Lima, aka “Gorgo”                                     Age: 50           Guatemala

Arnoldo Bexsael Morales-Aguilar, aka “Bex”                       Age: 57           Guatemala

Ranferi Godinez-Vasquez, aka “Chilo”                                 Age: 31           Guatemala

Maximo Morales-Godinez, aka “Max”                                  Age: 37           Guatemala

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Count 1 – International Cocaine Distribution Conspiracy - Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 959, 960, 963

Maximum penalty: Life in prison; a maximum $10 million fine

All defendants

Count 2 – Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine – Title 46, U.S.C., Sections 70503, 70506(b)

Maximum penalty: Life in prison; a maximum $10 million fine

Defendant Walfre Donaldo Calderon-Calderon only

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Homeland Security Investigations

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 116 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On June 9, Alejandro Garcia Rivera and Angel Bel Tran Zamora, both Mexican citizens, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain and Aiding and Abetting after they were intercepted by the U.S. Coast guard off Point Loma as alleged captains of a smuggling boat; Gerardo Bejarano-Velazquez - who was also aboard the boat and had been previously deported to Mexico in 2018 in Nogales, Arizona - was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry After Deportation. Two other passengers were being held as material witnesses.
• On June 10, 2025, Jose Pablo Lopez Lopez, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, when the defendant attempted to cross the border in his vehicle at the Tecate Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection Officers found 113 packages containing 122 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the door panels, spare tire, firewall and passenger seats.
• On June 10, Juan Moreno Morales, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, he tried to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry aboard an ambulance. The defendant eventually admitted to using a bogus medical emergency as a scheme to enter the United States illegally. Moreno Morales was previously removed from the United States in 2000 and 2023.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On June 9, Reymond Arias Valdez, a national of the Dominican Republic, who has multiple felony convictions for narcotics distribution in Massachusetts, was sentenced in federal court to 18 months in custody for illegally entering the U.S. In addition, Arias-Valdez has a previous felony unlawful reentry of a deported alien conviction from 2020.
• On June 13, Carlos Fernando Gallegos-Camacho, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of being a deported alien found in the United States in 2022 and 2010, was sentenced in federal court to nine months in custody for again reentering the U.S. illegally.
• On June 13, 2025, Monica Valdivia Ramirez, a Mexican national, was sentenced to 56 months in prison for importation of over 86,000 fentanyl pills into the United States, with an estimated street value of more than $800,000. She was found guilty by a federal jury in February.
• On June 13, 2025, Francisco Luevano-Casillas - a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony cocaine trafficking - was sentenced in federal court to 15 months in custody for illegally reentering the U.S. after deportation in May 2008. For the 2008 drug offense, Luevano-Casillas was sentenced to 96 months in prison.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Edgar Herrera Pardo, aka Caiman, an admitted violent cartel enforcer who ordered the killing of a Tijuana police officer, was sentenced in federal court today to 28 years in prison for trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine and heroin into the United States.

Herrera Pardo was indicted in the Southern District of California on April 10, 2019, as a leader of a group known as Los Cabos, which operated in Baja California to secure control of the region for Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, commonly known as CJNG, one of the most violent criminal organizations in the world. Los Cabos employed rampant violence to ensure that CJNG maintained the ability to traffic drugs through Tijuana and into the United States.

President Trump’s Executive Order 14157 designated CJNG as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the Secretary of State subsequently designated the same on February 20, 2025. Executive Order 14157 recognized that cartels such as CJNG have “engaged in a campaign of violence and terror throughout the Western Hemisphere.” Los Cabos had a direct role in that terror, by abducting and killing enemies of CJNG, and then hanging so called “narco banners” bragging about their violence and warning others who would dare to defy the cartel.

Herrera Pardo’s calling card was violence. According to his plea agreement and the government’s sentencing memo, the defendant admitted that:

• On September 9, 2018, he ordered the murder of a police officer in Tijuana, telling a co-conspirator “I want a dead (body) in the Segunda (street).” He provided the co-conspirator an AR-15 and further assistance.
• On October 5, 2018, Herrera Pardo ordered a co-conspirator to pick up cartel rivals who had provided information about CJNG to law enforcement officials.
• On November 12, 2018, Herrera Pardo told a co-conspirator that he would send a group of enforcers to kidnap and kill rivals.
• On November 20, 2018, Herrera Pardo discussed locating and killing former members of CJNG who had switched allegiances to a rival cartel. In all, investigators intercepted a group chat of Los Cabos – led by Herrera Pardo – wherein they discussed well over 100 murders.

“My Day One pledge in creating our office’s Narcoterrorism Unit was to make this the District where cartel members will receive the full measure of justice,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This cartel sicario ordered brutal killings to instill terror and crush opposition. The cartel he served earned its designation as a foreign terrorist organization for a reason: its reach and ruthlessness rivaled that of any terror group. But today, his reign of terror has come to an end.”

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: those who use violence and fear to advance the deadly operations of drug cartels will be held accountable,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Clark. “Herrera was not just a drug trafficker, he was an enforcer, a key instrument of intimidation and brutality. The DEA remains committed in its mission to dismantle these criminal networks and protect our communities from the violence and addiction they bring.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Martin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Narcoterrorism Unit. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided critical assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Herrera Pardo.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number: Case Number: 19CR1274-BAS

Edgar Herrera Pardo aka Caiman                   Age: 35                       Tijuana, Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances for Purpose of Unlawful Importation, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 959, 960 and 963

Maximum Penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison; $10 million fine

Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846

Maximum Penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison and $10 million fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

Homeland Security Investigations

United States Marshals Service

Department of Justice, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force

Department of Justice, Office of Enforcement Operations

Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs

San Diego Sheriff’s Department

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

SAN DIEGO – Juandaniel Medina, the third individual in the past several weeks to have been charged with illegal trafficking of protected exotic birds through Ports of Entry in the Southern District of California, appeared in court today. Federal agents detained Medina at the San Ysidro Port of Entry after discovering seven live Amazon parrots in a cardboard box on the passenger floorboard. According to a federal complaint, Medina was the driver and registered owner of a vehicle in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials found the birds; he admitted paying $700 cash for the parrots with the intention of breeding and or reselling them in the United States in the future.

Cardboard box on the passenger floorboard; one of the captive birds peering out from inside the box

USFWS has identified six of the birds as Red-Lored Amazon Parrots. Fortunately, all seven of the parrots are alive and thriving at a quarantine facility managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The seven Amazon parrots seized from GARCIA’s truck

The arrest follows the recent prosecution of another individual caught smuggling Amazon parrots through the same port of entry, highlighting a troubling pattern of illegal wildlife trade through Southern California.

“The illicit parrot trade reflects a broader crisis in wildlife protection—where profit outweighs preservation.” aid U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “Bird smuggling is not a victimless crime. These animals suffer, and the consequences to public health and the environment can be catastrophic. I thank U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their extraordinary coordination and vigilance in protecting both public safety and animal welfare.

According to U.S.  Fish and Wildlife Services, Amazon parrots are native to Mexico, the West Indies, and northern South America.  There are approximately thirty species of Amazon parrots, and all Amazon parrot species are listed on either Appendix I or Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (“CITES”).

Illegally imported birds bypass health screening and quarantine, which are required to protect the nation from infectious diseases. Avian influenza (bird flu), for instance, can spread through feathers, droppings, or even airborne particles and has previously caused massive culls of farm birds in the U.S. Bird flu is highly contagious and can cause flu like symptoms, respiratory illness, pneumonia and death in humans and other birds including birds in United States poultry farms.  Many other diseases that can be transmitted from different animals and can have disastrous effects, that is why it is necessary to quarantine animals entering the United States to limit and safeguard against this potential disease transmission.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Evangeline Dech.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 25-mj-3169                            

Juandaniel Medina                                          Age: 24                                   Lindsay, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Importation Contrary to Law – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 545

Maximum penalty: 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Homeland Security Investigations

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Danny Nunez of San Diego was sentenced in federal court today to 188 months in prison for providing the fentanyl that resulted in the fatal overdose of a 25-year-old Escondido woman in 2024.

Nunez admitted in his plea agreement that he sold fentanyl to the victim, identified in court records as L.P., on September 11, 2024. The next day, her parents found her lifeless body in her bedroom. Emergency responders were unable to revive her.

On October 3, 2024, Escondido Police Department detectives posing as L.P. contacted Nunez, asking to purchase fentanyl. The defendant agreed to provide the requested fentanyl. The same day, the detectives arrived at Nunez’s residence and contacted the defendant. Nunez was arrested as he walked outside to meet “L.P.” carrying two baggies containing 7.67 grams and 1.23 grams of fentanyl.

“The defendant stole a young life and shattered a family by peddling deadly fentanyl,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “Today’s sentence sends a clear and powerful message: Those who traffic in poison will be held fully accountable for the devastation they cause.”

“Those who bring dangerous drugs into our communities, especially fentanyl, will be held accountable,” said Shawn Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Diego. “This investigation is an example of the strong partnerships between our state and local law enforcement partners that make up the San Diego Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team (FAST).  FAST is committed to ensuring the individuals who distribute fentanyl into our communities are held accountable.”

“The San Diego Imperial Valley HIDTA proudly supports federal, state and local law enforcement efforts to reduce overdose deaths in our community,” said David King, executive director of San Diego and Imperial Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. “Those individuals who place a priority on profits from drug sales over public safety should take notice that the criminal justice system will hold them accountable. San Diego County is a safer place after this investigation and successful prosecution.”

Escondido Police Lt. Ryan Hicks stated: “The Escondido Police Department works aggressively to identify and hold accountable anyone who chooses to participate in the poisoning of our community through illicit fentanyl distribution. We can successfully conduct these investigations through crucial support from the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and our federal partnerships.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Van Demark.

Special Agents and Task Force Officers with the Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team (FAST) led this investigation.

HSI San Diego FAST is a multiagency task force comprising state, local, and federal partners and was first established in August 2022 focusing on the disruption and dismantlement of criminal organizations that smuggle and distribute fentanyl within San Diego County. HSI’s FAST targets fentanyl smuggling and distribution networks to combat overdoses and decrease the availability and accessibility of fentanyl.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States. This grant program is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). There are currently 33 HIDTAs, and HIDTA-designated counties are located in 50 states, as well as in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

DEFENDANTS                                             Case Number 24-CR-2295-W                                  

Danny Nunez                                                  Age: 25                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Attempted Distribution of Fentanyl

21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Escondido Police Department

San Diego Imperial Valley HIDTA

SAN DIEGO – George Joseph Wellinger II was sentenced in federal court today to six months in custody and four months of home confinement for intentionally threatening a member of the LGBTQ community with violence via email.

Wellinger admitted in his plea agreement that he intentionally selected this victim based on the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, and because of the defendant’s animus toward members of the LGBTQ community.

According to court documents, the victim was targeted after being interviewed for a KTLA news report about a hate-inspired murder in Lake Arrowhead in August 2023.

According to the plea agreement, the threatening email called the victim “another alphabet clown that wants to take a dirt nap, too,” and included a link to the KTLA news report which featured the victim and others discussing the murder of a Lake Arrowhead business owner who had been gunned down for hanging a Pride flag in her business.

The email continued: “We know what you look like and know where are you are....only a matter of time....Love it....get ur ghey on sister....scissor it up....we coming for ur rainbow azz. Click Click!!!”

“This was a particularly cruel act. No one should have to live in fear,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “The U. S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the civil rights of everyone in our community.”

“Today’s sentence serves as a stark reminder there is no place for hate crimes in San Diego or anywhere,” said FBI San Diego Acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi. “The FBI’s commitment to investigate hate crimes underscores the seriousness of these offenses. It is not just about enforcing the law but protecting our community and ensuring the rights of individuals to live free of fear.”

If you or anyone you know believes you have been the victim of a hate crime, please contact the FBI at www.tips.fbi.gov. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacqueline M. Jimenez and Alicia Williams are prosecuting this case.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number: 24-CR-1591                                      

George Joseph Wellinger II                            Age: 49                                   San Diego, CA

CHARGE

Transmitting a Threatening Communication - Title 18 U.S.C., § 875(c)

Maximum penalty: Five years in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

For more information and resources about the department’s work to combat hate crimes, visit https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 131 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On May 31, 2025, Brenda Esmeralda Sanchez and Marlen Yamille Salmoran, United States citizens, were arrested and charged with False Personation of Immigration Matters and Aggravated Identity Theft. According to a complaint, Sanchez and her adult daughter, Salmoran, attempted to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry with an unaccompanied undocumented child from Mexico by presenting Customs and Border Protection officers with a genuine U.S. birth certificate belonging to Sanchez’s son. Sanchez has two prior arrests for alien smuggling.
• On May 31, Ricardo Cuevas Diaz and Luis Armando Bojorquez Cazarez, Mexican citizens with border-crossing cards, were arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, when the two men attempted to cross the border at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, Customs and Border Protection Officers found 128 packages containing 133 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the air filter, firewall, roof, quarter panels and rear bed of the vehicle.
• On May 31, Alexis Nicolas Zamora Raglands and Jorge Luis Prieto Lopez, both Mexican nationals and alleged captains of a panga boat transporting 14 other undocumented immigrants, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, the boat was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard about 23 nautical miles from San Clemente Island. Seven of the passengers were also arrested and charged with Attempted Reentry after Deportation.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – A federal complaint was filed today charging Erick Arriola, Baltazar Rodriguez Reyes and Eugenio Lizama, alleged drivers of drug-laden vans and a truck, with conspiring to distribute almost four tons of methamphetamine.

It was one of the biggest seizures of methamphetamine in 2025 in the Southern District of California, and the most significant so far by the new Homeland Security Task Force San Diego, which was recently established by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security at the request of President Trump.

Among other goals, the task force was created to identify and target for prosecution transnational criminal organizations engaged in drug trafficking, money laundering, weapons trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling, homicide, extortion, and kidnapping.

The complaint alleges that on June 2, 2025, federal law enforcement officials were conducting surveillance on four vehicles - which included two white panel vans, a white Ford F150 truck, and a semi-truck - as they congregated in a parking lot in the 8200 block of Otay Mesa Road.

According to the complaint, bundles in each vehicle had been moved from the large semi-truck into the other vehicles while in the parking lot. The three defendants drove in separate directions before they were ultimately arrested by United States Border Patrol. Each vehicle was stuffed with large bundles of methamphetamine.

Arriola, of El Salvador, was present in the United States despite being a felon convicted of DUI, battery of a spouse, and false imprisonment. Rodriguez Reyes and Lizama are Mexican nationals.

“The recent formation of Homeland Security Task Force San Diego is an essential step to fulfilling the promises of Operation Take Back America,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, “Our Office will fully support these enhanced law enforcement partnerships to ensure the safety of our community.”

“As a founding member of HSTF in San Diego, I’m thrilled to be working alongside our partners who have also committed resources to combatting transnational crime,” said Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge for HSI San Diego. “Cases under the HSTF will be a priority for me and staff as we all will continue to work together to secure our border and keep our communities safe.”

“Collaboration between law enforcement agencies greatly helps to effectively combat transnational criminal organizations,” said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey Stalnaker. “The leveraging of our unique capabilities amplifies our ability to safeguard the nation.”

“When we combine our unique capabilities, authorities, strengths, and assets, we create a unified response to the expansive cartel threat,” said FBI San Diego Acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi. “FBI San Diego will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement partners to reduce the growing epidemic of drug trafficking and violence in our community.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Martin of the U.S. Attorney’s recently created Narcoterrorism Unit.

DEFENDANTS                                 Case Number 25mj3112                                          

Erick Omar Arriola                                      Age 27                El Salvador

Baltazar Rodriguez Reyes                           Age 49                Mexico

Eugenio Lizama                                          Age 35                Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) – Possession with Intent to

Distribute Methamphetamine

Maximum penalty: Life; 10-year mandatory minimum sentence

Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 841(a)(1), 846 – Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

Maximum penalty: Life; 10-year mandatory minimum sentence

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Federal Bureau of Investigation

United States Border Patrol

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) San Diego as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to, among other goals, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Michael Pratt, the mastermind behind the GirlsDoPorn sex trafficking ring, pleaded guilty in federal court today to multiple sex trafficking counts.

Pratt, who was the owner of the website GirlsDoPorn, was charged in October 2019 in the Southern District of California with sex trafficking crimes in connection with a scheme to deceive and coerce young women to appear in pornographic videos. Pratt liquidated his assets and fled the United States in mid-2019. He was named to the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list and lived as an international fugitive for more than three years until his arrest in Spain in December 2022 and extradition to San Diego in March 2024.

According to public court filings, Pratt and his co-defendants used force, fraud, and coercion to recruit hundreds of young women – most in their late teens – to appear in GirlsDoPorn videos. In his plea agreement, Pratt pleaded guilty to Count One (conspiracy to sex traffic from 2012 to 2019) and Count Two (Sex trafficking Victim 1 in May 2012) of the superseding indictment.

In connection with Count 1, Pratt admitted the following:

He was the owner and operator of the pornography website GirlsDoPorn, which  featured sex videos of young adult women appearing in their first pornographic video. Pratt came up with the idea for the website, recruited women to appear in the videos, sometimes transported the women to and from the site of the video shoot, sometimes manned the camera for the videos, and otherwise managed the business.

In around 2012, Pratt recruited his co-defendant Matthew Wolfe to work for him. Wolfe operated GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys (an offshoot of GirlsDoPorn which featured many of the same women appearing in pornographic videos with sex toys). The two websites were run by Pratt as a single business venture. Both websites were supported by the same employees operating out of a shared office in San Diego.

Throughout the conspiracy, GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys received millions of views. To promote the websites, video content from both sites was posted on free porn sites such as Pornhub.com, one of the world’s most visited websites. The videos from GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys posted on PornHub were often viewed millions of times according to PornHub’s own view counters. The websites charged visitors a subscription fee to access content, and generated millions of dollars in revenue for Pratt.

To recruit young women to appear in videos for the websites, Pratt and some of his employees (at Pratt’s direction) often told the prospective models that their sex videos would never be posted on-line, that the videos would never be released in the United States, and that no one who knew the women would ever find out about the video, representations that Pratt and other members of the conspiracy knew were false. Women from various places throughout the United States and Canada were recruited to appear in videos based on these material misrepresentations.

In 2013, Pratt recruited co-defendant Ruben Andre Garcia. the male model who engaged in sex acts on video with the women. As a part of the scheme, Garcia found young women (“Reference Girls”) to falsely reassure prospective models that the videos would not be posted on-line and that none of the models’ friends, families, colleagues or classmates would ever find out. Garcia used the Reference Girls, because he believed that the victims were more likely to believe other young women. Pratt knew about the Reference Girls and paid them a fee for each model that they attempted to recruit.

As a part of the scheme, Pratt and other members of the conspiracy took steps to ensure that the victims did not find out that Pratt and the other members of the conspiracy owned and operated GirlsDoPorn and GirlsDoToys. These steps included the intentional omission of any reference to the websites in statements that Pratt and others made to prospective models and in company names and documents, including the contracts that the prospective models signed. The business was instead often identified by innocuous names, such as “Begin Modeling,” “Bubblegum Casting” or “BLL Media.”

Most of the sex videos created as part of the conspiracy were shot at hotels or short term rental units in the San Diego area. Pratt, Wolfe or co-defendant Theodore Gyi served as the camera men for these video shoots.

Once the women arrived at the hotel or short term rental unit, Pratt, Garcia, Wolfe and/or Gyi continued to falsely assure the women that the videos would not be posted on-line and that no one who knew the victims would find out. The women were told that the contracts simply said what the women had already been told, including that the videos would not be posted on-line. Women were not provided with a copy of the contracts that they signed, even though some of them asked for copies.

If the women told Pratt or his co-conspirators that they wanted to stop making the video, Pratt or his co-conspirators threatened to sue the women, cancel flights home, and post the videos on-line if the women did not complete the sex videos.

Pratt became aware that personal identifying information and social media accounts for some models were being posted on Pornwikileaks.com, a site dedicated to exposing the true identities of individuals appearing in sex videos. Even after Pratt became aware of this, Pratt instructed his employees to assure prospective models that no one would ever find out about their video shoot or learn their identity.

In connection with Count 2, Pratt admitted the following:

In May 2012, Pratt, using the alias “Matt,” recruited Victim 1. The original Craigslist advertisement was for modeling, and it was posted under the name Bubblegum Casting. Victim 1 responded to the ad and communicated with Pratt. Pratt explained that the job was actually to shoot an “adult video.” Pratt falsely assured Victim 1 that her video would only be seen in Australia by private clients and would not be posted on the internet. Victim 1 was 18 years old at the time of these conversations.

Victim 1 initially declined, but Pratt referred her to a Reference Girl to convince Victim 1 to do the video and reassure Victim 1 that her video would not be posted on-line. Relying upon assurances by Pratt and the Reference Girl, Victim 1 flew from a state outside of California to San Diego for the video shoot. Pratt picked Victim 1 up at the airport and drove her to a hotel in San Diego. Pratt operated the camera. He directed and filmed the sex video.

Prior to making the video, Pratt rushed Victim 1 through a contract and did not provide her with a copy. Pratt had promised Victim 1 that the video would take 30 minutes, but it took hours to film. Once the video was done, Pratt gave Victim 1 $2,000.

Victim 1’s video was posted on GirlsDoPorn approximately nine months after the shoot. Victim 1 contacted Pratt after her video was posted to the GirlsDoPorn website and begged Pratt to take her video down. Pratt did not reply and did not take the video down.

Garcia was sentenced to 20 years in prison on June 14, 2021. Theodore Gyi was sentenced to four years in prison on November 9, 2022. Matthew Wolfe was sentenced to 14 years in prison on March 20, 2024. Valorie Moser, the office manager, is set for sentencing on September 12, 2025.

Pratt’s sentencing is scheduled for September 8, 2025, at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino.

DEFENDANTS                                             Case Number 19cr4488-JLS

Michael Pratt                           Age: 42          To be sentenced September 8, 2025

Matthew Wolfe                       Age: 43           Sentenced to 14 years on March 20, 2024

Ruben Andre Garcia               Age: 36           Sentenced to 20 years on June 4, 2021

Theodore Gyi                          Age: 47           Sentenced to 4 years on November 9, 2022

Valorie Moser                         Age: 42           To be sentenced on September 12, 2025

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Sex Trafficking Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1594

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $250,000 fine

Sex Trafficking – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1591

Mandatory Minimum: Fifteen years in prison

Maximum penalty: Life in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Hasan Korkmaz, the owner and operator of San Diego Logistics Group Inc., a Santee trucking company, was arraigned in federal court today on an 18-count indictment charging him with bank fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, in 2022 and 2023, Korkmaz executed a credit card “bust-out” scheme - where fraudsters establish seemingly legitimate credit card accounts and then “bust out” by maxing out the credit line with no intention of paying the balance.

The indictment alleges that Korkmaz obtained names, dates of birth, social security numbers and other personally identifiable information corresponding with real individuals. Korkmaz then applied for numerous credit card accounts with that information. After opening the fraudulent credit cards accounts, Korkmaz allegedly used the credit cards to incur charges at various businesses, including Korkmaz’s San Diego Logitistics Group Inc. The charges were in the thousands of dollars each, including some charges as high as $18,500 in a single transaction.

To perpetuate the scheme, Korkmaz also made fraudulent payments, with checks drawn on accounts with insufficient funds or drawn on non-existent accounts, to the credit card accounts, thereby temporarily restoring the available credit limits, the indictment said.  Korkmaz would then incur additional charges on the credit card accounts at or near the maximum credit limits for the accounts.

As alleged in the indictment, Korkmaz laundered the bank fraud proceeds, including by transferring proceeds from the fraud scheme to a Turkish bank account controlled by Korkmaz. In total, Korkmaz caused over $2,103,000 in losses to two banks.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Mokhtari and Christopher Alexander.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 25-cr-1405-JES                   

Hasan Korkmaz                                              Age: 44                                   Las Vegas, NV

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Counts 1-12 - Bank Fraud - Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1344(2)

Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison; a maximum $1 million fine

Counts 13-14 - Money Laundering – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1957

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison; a maximum $500,000 fine or twice the amount of monetary instruments involved in the offense, whichever is greatest

Counts 15-18 - Aggravated Identity Theft – Title 18, U.S.C. Section 1028A

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, to run consecutively to the specified felony

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 135 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On May 28, Leonardo Arturo Sandez Leal, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry discovered 110 packages of methamphetamine weighing 125 pounds, and 10 packages of cocaine weighing 27 pounds, concealed in the rear quarter panels, floor, seats and center console of the vehicle the defendant was driving.
• On May 23, Jorge Luis Perez-Florez and Rumualdo Morales-Perez, both Mexican nationals, were arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, the defendants were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard off Point Loma with multiple undocumented Mexican nationals aboard their boat. Morales-Perez was previously deported to Mexico on March 20, 2025, through Laredo, Texas.
• On May 29, Noel Lopez Uribe, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the U.S. According to a complaint, a Border Patrol agent discovered the defendant hiding near some brush in Otay Mesa. Lopez Uribe was most recently removed from the U.S. in April 2025.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On May 30, Raul Diaz, a citizen of Colombia, was sentenced in federal court to six months in custody for attempting to re-enter the U.S. illegally. He was previously convicted in November 2014 of embezzling nearly $114,000 of public money.
• On May 30, 2025, Temo Duble-Chaparro, a Mexican national with no permission to enter the United States, was sentenced to 18 months in custody for illegal reentry of a removed alien, to be followed by a four month consecutive sentence for violating the conditions of his supervised release. This was the defendant’s fourth federal immigration conviction in as many years. He previously had been convicted of alien smuggling and illegal reentry.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Hector Alejandro Paez Garcia, a Mexico City-based attorney, has pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting that he and others conspired to transport, transmit, and transfer tens of millions of dollars in drug trafficking proceeds from the United States to Mexico.

Paez’s plea is part of a long-term FBI investigation targeting a Mexico-based money laundering organization (MLO) that is believed to have laundered at least $52.7 million for the Sinaloa Cartel before the organization’s leaders were arrested.

According to court documents, the MLO utilized a network of shell companies in San Diego to launder tens of millions of dollars in bulk cash from across the country generated through the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug importation and distribution operations. MLO employees travelled to dozens of U.S. cities to pick up this bulk cash in amounts up to $200,000. The money was then funneled through the San Diego-based shell companies and delivered to money laundering accounts in Mexico controlled by Paez, who in his plea agreement admitted serving a managerial role in the MLO’s operations.

During the investigation, FBI agents seized 66 money laundering bank accounts throughout the United States. As the FBI began to target and seize the MLO’s assets, Paez turned to the use of cryptocurrency in an attempt to shield those assets from law enforcement. But the FBI was able to infiltrate and take down the MLO’s cryptocurrency laundering network.

To date, the investigation has resulted in the arrests of 11 people on money laundering charges and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in illicit assets. A related DEA investigation led to 24 additional arrests and asset seizures totaling $450,000.

In March 2025, six individuals and seven entities, including several of Paez’s co-conspirators, were the target of sanctions imposed by the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Treasury Sanctions Criminal Operators and Money Launderers for the Notorious Sinaloa Cartel | U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Paez is scheduled to be sentenced on August 15, 2025.

To date, in addition to Paez, additional participants in the scheme have been charged, including the following:

• Miguel Angel Encinas Gomez of Mexicali, México, leader of a Mexicali-based cell of MLO. Encinas pleaded guilty to laundering $35 million in bulk cash narcotics proceeds in July 2023.
• Hugo Andres Velasquez Pantza, a Colombian national who allegedly assisted the MLO in the implementation of cryptocurrency into their operations. Velasquez was subsequently targeted in an undercover FBI operation and arrested in Rome, Italy in January 2025. Velasquez was extradited to the United States in April 2025 and awaits trial.
• James Harmon Yarbrough of Apopka, Florida, who worked in partnership with Cevallos to receive $326,000 in illicit proceeds in a scheme to converting the funds to cryptocurrency. Yarbrough pleaded guilty in July 2023.
• Victoria Johanna Lopez, Jose Jesus Lopez, Jose Mayorga Martinez, and Gerardo Vasquez Jr. who allegedly worked as bulk cash couriers who handled and deposited bulk cash for the MLO. Victoria Lopez, Jose Lopez, Mayorga have pleaded guilty. Vazquez’s case is set for trial in September 2024.
• Jhonatan Suarez Florez of Auburndale, Florida, who used accounts associated with his Florida-based construction and door manufacturing businesses to receive and transmit funds belonging to the criminal organization. Suarez Florez pleaded guilty in December 2024.
• Alberto David Benguait Jimenez, an alleged leader of the MLO, remains a fugitive at this time. If anyone has information related to this individual, please contact the FBI at 858-320-1800.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Benjamin and Robert Miller. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Owen Roth contributed significantly to the case. The FBI worked in close partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Imperial County District Office, as well as Panamanian authorities, to seize the MLO’s assets and arrest multiple participants in the scheme.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Italy to secure the arrest and extradition of Velasquez Pantza.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 23cr0446                                               

Hector Alejandro Paez Garcia                        Age: 43                                   Mexico City, Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

International Money Laundering Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h), and 1956(a)(2)(B)(i)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $500,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. [use if applicable] Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This case is the result of ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.

SAN DIEGO – Chula Vista resident and businessowner Fernando Valenzuela Ayub pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he conspired with others to launder millions of dollars of health care fraud proceeds and paid unlawful kickbacks.

According to his plea agreement, Valenzuela and co-conspirators owned and operated multiple durable medical equipment (DME) companies, which sold orthotics – including back, wrist, and knee braces – to Medicare beneficiaries. Valenzuela admitted that in operating the DME companies, he and co-conspirators paid unlawful kickback payments to sham marketing companies who provided bogus prescriptions for DME. In total, Valenzuela paid $3.7 million in kickbacks.

Valenzuela admitted that he used his DME companies to submit fraudulent claims to Medicare. Once Valenzuela’s DME companies were suspended from billing Medicare, Valenzuela conspired to put DME companies in the names of nominee owners while he maintained control of the companies and the monies received from Medicare.  In total, Valenzuela billed Medicare approximately $51 million and was paid approximately $20 million, and ultimately laundered at least $14 million dollars of Medicare proceeds. As part of his guilty plea, Valenzuela agreed to forfeit $7,101,320.

Valenzuela’s sentencing is scheduled for August 15, 2025. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blanca Quintero of the Southern District of California.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 25cr2488-DMS                          

Fernando Valenzuela Ayub                            Age: 48                                   Chula Vista, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Money Laundering Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $500,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG)

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 134 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On May 16, Elizabeth Janeth Ramirez-Martinez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Ramirez-Martinez was stopped at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry by Customs and Border Protection officers, who found a Vietnamese national crammed into a compartment in the dash of her vehicle. The undocumented immigrant told officers that before they made their way to the border, the defendant had placed him in the compartment and secured it using screws.
• On May 19, Fernanda Barrios Monzon, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., was arrested and charged with Bringing in Unlawful Aliens without Presentation and Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, the defendant drove her vehicle through the San Ysidro Port of Entry but was stopped when a Customs and Border Protection officer noticed a man lying on the floor of the vehicle, under the feet of the defendant’s children. The officer further discovered 271 pounds of methamphetamine hidden throughout the vehicle.
• On May 20, Gustavo Hernandez Oliveros, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in the U.S. According to a complaint, Border Patrol agents located Hernandez Oliveros hiding in brush about two miles north of the border and two miles east of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. He was previously deported in November 2018.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On May 23, Jair Valdez-Hernandez, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony attempted carjacking in 2017, was sentenced in federal court to 10 months in custody for illegally entering the U.S. After illegally reentering the U.S., in July 2024, Valdez-Hernandez was convicted of corporal injury to a spouse/cohabitant and within the two months following that conviction was arrested twice for violating domestic violence protective orders.
• On May 23, Rogelio Herrera-Rodriguez, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of voluntary manslaughter and corporal injury to a spouse causing great bodily injury and removed from the United States, was sentenced in federal court to 24 months for again reentering the U.S. illegally.
• On May 23, Sacramento Sagrero-Pahua, a Mexican national, was sentenced in federal court to 36 months in custody for bringing aliens to the United States for financial gain. On August 26, 2023, Sagrero-Pahua guided a group of eight illegal aliens into the United States near Otay Mountain before being caught by Border Patrol agents. Among the group Sagrero-Pahua guided was an armed guard, who brought a gun with him to protect the group as it traveled toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
• On May 19, 2025, Oscar Eduardo Audelo-Rodriguez, a Mexican national, who admitted to fleeing border patrol agents by boat in Mission Bay, was sentenced in federal court to 8 months in custody for alien smuggling.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Arnoldo Oswaldo Vargas-Samayoa, a Guatemalan national, was sentenced in federal court today to ­14 years in prison for managing a cocaine trafficking organization that smuggled more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine into the United States from Guatemala.

Following his surrender to U.S. authorities in June 2024 at Los Angeles International Airport, Vargas-Samayoa pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to import cocaine that were filed in January 2020.

In imposing sentence, U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo noted that Vargas-Samayoa was a “manager of a very extensive international drug ring” and money laundering effort who did not make a “mistake” but rather “chose a lifestyle.”

Vargas admitted he sourced the cocaine from two different Guatemalan suppliers and coordinated delivery to a Mexico-based drug trafficker. Vargas and the Mexico-based trafficker arranged for the drugs to be hidden in vehicles and smuggled into the United States through ports of entry in Southern California and Southern Texas.

Vargas, whose communications were being intercepted by law enforcement, messaged with the trafficker while cocaine loads were being moved into the United States to confirm the drugs were successfully smuggled. Once in the United States, some of that cocaine was moved to the Chicago area for further distribution. Vargas received a commission of $1,000 U.S. dollars for each kilogram of cocaine he delivered to the Mexico-based trafficker.

“Cocaine continues to be a dangerous and highly addictive drug with devastating consequences for individuals and communities,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “We remain committed to dismantling the entire supply chain—from powerful cartel leaders to street-level dealers—and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable.”

“This sentencing sends the message that those who traffic dangerous drugs into our country will be held accountable,” said Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge for HSI San Diego. “Thanks to the outstanding investigative work and strong domestic and international law enforcement partnerships, we were able to disrupt a key supply line of a major drug trafficking network. We remain committed to targeting high-level drug trafficking organizations and keeping deadly narcotics, like cocaine, out of our communities.”

The U.S. Attorney’s office has previously convicted, and the court has sentenced, multiple couriers attempting to smuggle narcotics for the same drug trafficking organization as well as individuals engaged in related money laundering efforts (see list below). Through the related investigation of this matter, law enforcement has seized more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, more than $2 million in bulk currency, and firearms.     

Vargas’ father, Arnoldo Vargas Estrada, is the former mayor of Zacapa, Guatemala who was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York in Case No. 90cr00855-SJF of five counts related to the importation of narcotics. He was sentenced to 365-months in custody. Vargas Estrada was one of the first Guatemalan drug traffickers to be extradited to the United States in the early 1990’s. He was released in 2017, returned to Guatemala, and then reelected as mayor of Zacapa holding that position until 2024.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This case is the result of ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Casper.

DEFENDANT                                             Case Number 20CR00240-CAB                            

Arnoldo Oswaldo Vargas-Samayoa, aka “Lalo”, aka “Pedrito”   Age: 50       Zacapa, Guatemala

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 960 and 963

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison

RELATED SENTENCES

Case No. 17cr648-GPC

Defendant/Conviction Charge/Custodial Sentence                                       

Walter Rovidio Ipina

Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine (21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), 846)

50 months

Zachary Vasquez

Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine (21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), 846)

66 months

Juan Angel Mexicano

Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine (21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), 846)

135 months

Luis Fernandez Oliva-Campos (18 U.S.C. Sec. 1956(h))                                                                   

Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments

31 months

David Castaneda-Solis   

Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments (18 U.S.C. Sec. 1956(h))                                                                       70 months

Jacob Castillo-Lopez

Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine (21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1), 846)                                                                           33 months

Case No. 18cr4414-GPC

Melchor Cardenas

Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine

60 months

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Customs and Border Protection

SAN DIEGO – Troy Othneil Smith, a student pilot whose drug trafficking activity was discovered when his plane was forced to make an emergency landing on State Route 76 in Oceanside last fall, was sentenced in federal court today to 30 months in prison.

Smith pleaded guilty in January to two counts of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute – one count in connection with the emergency landing that occurred around 1:39 a.m. on September 26, 2024 and his attempt to hide a package of cocaine from responding officers; and the other in connection with Smith’s mailing of cocaine through the United States Postal Service in 2023.

In his plea agreement, Smith also admitted to relevant conduct discovered during the course of the investigation of at least two other occasions wherein Smith mailed cocaine through the U.S. Postal Service.

“Aviation privileges come with immense responsibility,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “When those privileges are abused to facilitate drug trafficking, it undermines public safety and the trust placed in those who operate in our skies. We remain committed to working with our partners to detect, disrupt, and prosecute this kind of criminal activity wherever it occurs.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lyndzie M. Carter and Joseph Orabona.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 24-MJ-03788                                     

Troy Othneil Smith                                         Age: 36                                   Oceanside, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Possession of Cocaine with the Intent to Distribute– Title 21, U.S.C., Section 841(a)(1)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $1 million fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

United States Postal Inspectors

San Diego Field Division Narcotics Task Force Team 6

North County Narcotics Task Force

Oceanside Police Department

SAN DIEGO – Ricardo Alonzo of San Diego appeared in federal court today to face charges that he smuggled 17 exotic birds into the United States from Mexico under the seat of his car.

According to a complaint, Alonzo was the driver and registered owner of a vehicle that was intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Officers found four bags containing 10 Burrowing Parakeets, five Yellow-Crowned Amazon Parrots, and two Red-Lored Amazon Parrots underneath the rear seat. The two Red-Lored Amazon Parrot chicks did not survive; the surviving birds were transferred to a quarantine facility managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Trafficking exotic birds isn’t just illegal — it’s cruel and dangerous,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “These actions put the lives of helpless animals at risk and expose the public and other animals to serious diseases.”

“This charge underscores our unwavering commitment to protecting vulnerable wildlife and holding traffickers accountable for their crimes,” said Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge of HSI San Diego. “We are grateful to our dedicated law enforcement partners whose collaboration was instrumental in bringing this individual to justice.”

According to the U.S.  Fish and Wildlife Service, Amazon parrots are native to Mexico, the West Indies, and northern South America, while Burrowing Parakeets are local to Chile and Argentina.  All 30-some species of Amazon parrots, as well as the Burrowing Parakeets, are listed on either Appendix I or Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (“CITES”).

The successful smuggling of undeclared Amazon parrots and Burrowing Parakeets into the U.S. means no quarantine period or process. This would be dangerous to the United States as birds can carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu), psittacosis, and histoplasmosis. Bird flu is highly contagious and can cause flu like symptoms, respiratory illness, pneumonia and death in humans and other birds including birds in United States poultry farms. Quarantining animals entering the United States is intended to safeguard against this potential disease transmission.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Parker Gardner-Erickson.

DEFENDANT                                                             Case Number 25mj2712-VET                                 

Ricardo Alonzo                                               Age: 26                                   San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Importation Contrary to Law – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 545

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Homeland Security Investigations

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 153 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On May 11, Mario Santiago-Velasquez, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Deported Alien Found in The United States. According to a complaint, Santiago-Velasquez was previously convicted of five immigration crimes and Malicious Destruction of Property.
• On May 12, Juan Jose Perez-Garcia, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of five immigration-related offenses including felony reentry-after-deportation in 2023, was sentenced in federal court to seven months in custody for again entering the U.S. illegally.
• On May 13, Juan Nazario Lizarraga Peralta, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Lizarraga was attempting to enter the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry when he was intercepted by Customs and Border Patrol agents with seven pounds of fentanyl and 11 pounds of cocaine strapped to his body.
• On May 13, Oscar Echevarria-Luque, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with illegal importation of cocaine. According to a complaint, Luque applied for entry through the Calexico, California East Port of Entry in a Kenworth truck towing a car hauler. Upon inspection of the trailer, Customs and Border Protection officers found 92.18kg (203.22 pounds) of cocaine concealed in the frame of the trailer.
• On May 14, Ernesto Alejandro Rodriguez Gallegos, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Rodriguez attempted to cross the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry with 135 pounds of cocaine hidden in his vehicle.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On May 16, Serafin Abelino-Medel, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony inflicting corporal injury on a spouse, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, and threatening crime with intent to terrorize, was sentenced in federal court to 15 months in custody for again entering the United States illegally.
• On May 16, Isaac Lopez-Rodriguez, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of Attempt to Commit Aggravated Assault in 2015, was sentenced in federal court to two years in custody for again entering the U.S illegally.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO –Lillian Arielle Markowitz, former owner of three San Diego-based surrogacy consulting businesses, was sentenced in federal court today to 24 months in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients.

At today’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson also ordered Markowitz to pay $389,142.00 in restitution to her former clients.

According to court documents, Markowitz owned three businesses — My Donor Cycle, Surrogacy Beyond Borders, and Expecting Surrogacy — through which she marketed herself as a surrogacy consultant to those seeking to realize their dreams of becoming parents. Beginning around 2018, when Markowitz and her businesses began to experience financial distress, she devised a scheme to steal money from her surrogacy clients by, among other things, submitting fraudulent requests to withdraw client funds from the escrow company where the funds were maintained. Markowitz submitted four fraudulent escrow disbursement requests, including one in which she forged a client’s signature in order to steal his escrow funds.

In her plea agreement, Markowitz admitted that from 2019 through 2021, she defrauded nine additional clients by falsely promising that their funds would be deposited into an escrow account and that their funds would be accessed only to pay for expenses related to their respective surrogacy journey. Instead, Markowitz deposited these clients’ funds into her business checking account, then immediately used them to cover general business expenses, expenses related to other clients’ surrogacy journeys, expenses related to her unrelated yoga and float business, and to pay for her personal expenses.

“Lillian Markowitz turned her surrogacy businesses into a Ponzi scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “She did not simply steal funds. She stole the dream of parenthood from her victims. She exploited hope and heartbreak for profit. Those who prey on the desperate will be held accountable.”

“Today’s sentencing of Lilian Markowitz marks the conclusion of a cruel and deceitful scheme that deeply exploited the victims’ hopeful dreams of becoming parents,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi. “After years of deception, Ms. Markowitz will now be held accountable for her egregious breach of trust and unethical conduct.”

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey D. Hill and Assistant United States Attorney Mark W. Pletcher.

DEFENDANT                                                           Case Number 24-CR-0904-TWR

Lillian Arielle Markowitz (aka Lillian Frost)            Age: 40                                   Portland, OR

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 134

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation        

Contact

Kelly Thornton, Director of Media Relations

SAN DIEGO – Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, the founder and chief executive officer of San Diego-based Ethos Asset Management, Inc., which offered financing to domestic and international businesses, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for tricking borrowers into paying him more than $17 million in up-front loan fees for nothing in return – conduct that U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie described as “reprehensible.”

Santos pleaded guilty in January 2025 to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft in connection with his advance-fee loan scam through his company, Ethos.

Santos, a Portuguese national, has been in custody since his arrest on November 13, 2023, in Newark, New Jersey, after arriving in the United States from abroad.

According to his plea agreement, Santos admitted he and co-conspirators held Ethos out to the public as a “full-service project financing” company that offered loans to prospective borrowers in exchange for an upfront fee as collateral for Ethos to use. However, on many occasions when a borrower gave Ethos the upfront fee as collateral, Ethos’ funding never materialized.

To induce prospective borrowers to send Ethos an upfront fee as collateral and enter into loan agreements, Santos and his co-conspirators lied about Ethos’ history of funding projects, the source of Ethos’ money, the amount of capital available to disburse loans, and how Ethos used the collateral upfront fees. For instance, Santos admitted that he used money from the upfront collateral fees to release collateral deposited by other borrowers and to disburse loans to other borrowers.

Santos also admitted that he and others altered otherwise legitimate financial account statements to inflate the amount of money Ethos appeared to have at its disposal to finance projects for the purpose of luring prospective borrowers to provide collateral and financial institutions to lend money. For example, in August 2021, Santos successfully induced a borrower to wire money as a collateral upfront fee by sending a bank statement that falsely represented Ethos having $100,304,447.46 when, in fact, it did not.

In February and May 2023, Santos again induced borrowers to provide collateral upfront fees by emailing a copy of Ethos’ annual financial statements reflecting falsely that Ethos had over $2.2 billion in total assets and that an accounting firm had audited the statements. Indeed, Santos admitted that he knowingly forged the signature of an employee at a bookkeeping firm on Ethos’s 2022 annual financial statement to falsely indicate that the firm had audited the statement. In each noted example, Ethos fraudulently obtained upfront fees and failed to disburse loan payments as promised.

Santos further admitted Ethos’ project financing scheme was international in nature, with a presence in the United States, Brazil, Turkey, and elsewhere. Santos admitted his scheme resulted in $17,125,000 in losses to certain U.S.-based victims. The plea agreement also explains that the parties will request a restitution hearing allowing the United States to offer evidence that Santos owes significantly more money to various other victims.

According to the plea agreement, Santos also forged the signature of an employee at an accounting firm to make it appear that the firm had audited Ethos’ annual financial reports.

“Fraud like this is a calculated abuse of trust,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “It strips people of their money under false promises. The impact is real, measurable, and lasting—and it calls for real consequences.”

“Businesses, large or small are the backbone of our economy yet one wrong or ill advised financial move can result in significant losses or even complete ruin,” said Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge for HSI San Diego. “HSI and our partner agencies are committed to preventing greedy scammers from victimizing and profiting from legitimate businesses. Our country relies on these businesses and law enforcement will continue to protect them from criminals.”

A restitution hearing will be held at a later date.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys E. Christopher Beeler and Carl F. Brooker, IV.

If you believe you are a victim of Carlos Santos and his company Ethos Asset Management, Inc., contact Homeland Security Investigations at ethos-victim@hsi.dhs.gov.

DEFENDANT

Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos                  Age: 30                                  Portugal

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Wire Fraud Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1349

Maximum penalty: Thirty years in prison and $250,000 fine

Aggravated Identity Theft – Title 18, U.S.C. Section 1028A

Maximum penalty: Mandatory two years in prison consecutive to the term for the underlying felony

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Homeland Security Investigations

SAN DIEGO – Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato, an Ecuadorian national and high-level drug trafficker, pleaded guilty in federal court today to international drug trafficking charges following his extradition to San Diego January 26, 2024.

Farfan had previously been designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059 for materially contributing to the illicit activities of major Mexican cartels to traffic cocaine into the United States.

Farfan pleaded guilty to a second superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury on October 30, 2019. In his plea agreement, Farfan admitted that he led an extensive drug trafficking organization that distributed over 450 kilograms of cocaine in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and elsewhere, and that the cocaine was ultimately imported into and distributed within the United States. He also admitted that the organization bribed government officials and used firearms to further their drug trafficking activities.

As part of his plea, Farfan also agreed to forfeit over $899,000 of U.S. currency.

Farfan is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Linda Lopez on August 11, 2025, at 10 a.m.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyle B. Martin and Ashley E. Goff.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Judicial Attaché’s office at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota provided critical assistance in securing the arrest and extradition from Colombia of Sanchez Farfan.

DEFENDANTS                                             Case Number 19CR1610-01-LL                             

Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan, aka Gato                   Age: 44                               Ecuador

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

International Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 959, 960, and 963

Maximum penalty: Mandatory minimum 10 years and up to life in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Drug Enforcement Administration

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Ruben Montes, of Calexico, California, was sentenced today in federal court to 16 months in prison and ordered to pay $12,710 in forfeiture for conspiring to smuggle and distribute more than $3 million worth of Mexican pesticides and veterinary drugs that are not approved for use in the United States.

“A secure border is vital to ensuring the health and safety of Americans,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting those who violate our environmental and customs laws and jeopardize the health and safety of our citizens.”

“Bringing in and selling pesticides and veterinary drugs illegally puts both people and the environment at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “These unregulated products can be harmful to animals, insects, and humans. Our office is committed to holding accountable anyone who chooses profit over public safety.”

According to filings and evidence presented in court, Montes coordinated the smuggling of pesticides and veterinary drugs from Mexico into the United States since 2020. The primary pesticides involved were Taktic and Bovitraz, which are not registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in the United States. The smuggled veterinary drugs included Tylocet, Terramicina, Tetragent Ares and Catarrol, which are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States.

Montes requested that his co-conspirators bring pesticides and veterinary drugs — unavailable for purchase in the United States — from Mexico into the United States. Montes and his co-conspirators brought them into the United States without declaring them at the border. He and his co-conspirators then hid the pesticides and veterinary drugs in storage units in Calexico and retrieved them for distribution throughout the United States. Specifically, Montes and his co-defendant Gutierrez, who remains at large, supplied most of the pesticides and veterinary drugs to individuals charged in another case, United States v. Toledo, et. al., (case number 22-cr-1965-JAH, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California). Montes was also involved in shipping about 150 packages of unapproved products to another co-conspirator in Texas.

According to the EPA, the active ingredient in the pesticides Taktic and Bovitraz is amitraz, which is toxic to bees if released into hives, and then ultimately to humans when it ends up in honey, honeycomb, and beeswax. Misuse of amitraz-containing products in beehives can result in exposures that could cause neurological effects and possibly reproductive effects in humans from the consumption of contaminated honey. Signs of neurotoxicity from exposure to amitraz have been documented in multiple animal species and include central nervous system depression, decrease in pulse rate, and hypothermia.

Assistant Section Chief Stephen Da Ponte of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabet Brown for the Southern District of California prosecuted the case. 

SAN DIEGO — Ruben Montes, of Calexico, California, was sentenced today in federal court to 16 months in prison and ordered to pay $12,710 in forfeiture for conspiring to smuggle and distribute more than $3 million worth of Mexican pesticides and veterinary drugs that are not approved for use in the United States.

“Bringing in and selling pesticides and veterinary drugs illegally puts both people and the environment at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “These unregulated products can be harmful to animals, insects, and humans. Our office is committed to holding accountable anyone who chooses profit over public safety.”

“A secure border is vital to ensuring the health and safety of Americans,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting those who violate our environmental and customs laws and jeopardize the health and safety of our citizens.”

According to filings and evidence presented in court, Montes coordinated the smuggling of pesticides and veterinary drugs from Mexico into the United States since 2020. The primary pesticides involved were Taktic and Bovitraz, which are not registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in the United States. The smuggled veterinary drugs included Tylocet, Terramicina, Tetragent Ares and Catarrol, which are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States.

Montes requested that his co-conspirators bring pesticides and veterinary drugs — unavailable for purchase in the United States — from Mexico into the United States. Montes and his co-conspirators brought them into the United States without declaring them at the border. He and his co-conspirators then hid the pesticides and veterinary drugs in storage units in Calexico and retrieved them for distribution throughout the United States. Specifically, Montes and his co-defendant Gutierrez, who remains at large, supplied most of the pesticides and veterinary drugs to individuals charged in another case, United States v. Toledo, et. al., (case number 22-cr-1965-JAH, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California). Montes was also involved in shipping about 150 packages of unapproved products to another co-conspirator in Texas.

According to the EPA, the active ingredient in the pesticides Taktic and Bovitraz is amitraz, which is toxic to bees if released into hives, and then ultimately to humans when it ends up in honey, honeycomb, and beeswax. Misuse of amitraz-containing products in beehives can result in exposures that could cause neurological effects and possibly reproductive effects in humans from the consumption of contaminated honey. Signs of neurotoxicity from exposure to amitraz have been documented in multiple animal species and include central nervous system depression, decrease in pulse rate, and hypothermia.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabet Brown for the Southern District of California and Assistant Section Chief Stephen Da Ponte of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case. 

DEFENDANT                                   Case Number 23CR2377                             

Ruben Montes                                     Age: 60                                               Calexico, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C. Section 371

Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigations Division

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations

California Department of Toxic Substances Control

SAN DIEGO – An indictment unsealed today is the first in the nation to charge alleged leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel with narco-terrorism and material support of terrorism in connection with trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin into the United States.

Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, are charged with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering as key leaders of the Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), a powerful and violent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel that is believed to be the world’s largest known fentanyl production network. Five other BLO leaders are charged with drug trafficking and money laundering. The indictment is a direct result of President Trump’s Executive Order 14157 which designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and the Secretary of State’s subsequent designation of the same on February 20, 2025.

“The Sinaloa Cartel is a complex, dangerous terrorist organization and dismantling them demands a novel, powerful legal response,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Their days of brutalizing the American people without consequence are over — we will seek life in prison for these terrorists.”

“Operation Take Back America initiatives reflect the reality that narco-terrorists operate as a cancer within a state,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “They metastasize violence, corruption and fear. If left unchecked, their growth would lead to the death of law and order. This indictment is what justice looks like when the full measure of the Department of Justice along with its law enforcement partners is brought to bear against the Sinaloa Cartel.”

“These charges highlight the unwavering efforts of transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel to flood our communities with deadly drugs,” said Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations San Diego. “HSI and our law enforcement partners will not allow cartel-driven drug trafficking to threaten the safety and stability of our neighborhoods. We are all lasered focused on a unified effort to dismantling these networks and their factions in bringing those responsible to justice.”

“BLO, under the leadership of Inzunza Noriega, is allegedly responsible for some of the largest-ever drug seizures of fentanyl and cocaine destined for the United States,” said FBI San Diego Acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi. “Their drugs not only destroy lives and communities, but also threaten our national security. The law enforcement efforts against the Noriegas reaffirms our commitment to dismantling and disrupting this very dangerous narco-terrorist group and combating narco-trafficking.”

According to court documents, since its inception the Beltran Leyva faction has been considered one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations to operate in Mexico, engaging in shootouts, murders, kidnappings, torture and violent collection of drug debts to sustain its operations. The Beltran Leyva faction controls numerous territories and plazas throughout Mexico – including Tijuana – and operates with violent impunity, trafficking in deadly drugs, threatening communities, and targeting key officials, all while making millions of dollars from their criminal activities.

Pedro Inzunza Noriega works closely with his son, Pedro Inzunza Coronel, to produce and aggressively traffic fentanyl to the United States, the government has alleged. Court documents indicate that together the father and son lead one of the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl production networks in the world. Over the past several years, they have trafficked tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the United States. On December 3, 2024, Mexican law enforcement raided multiple locations in Sinaloa that are controlled and managed by the father and son and seized 1,500 kilograms (more than 1.65 tons) of fentanyl – the largest seizure of fentanyl in the world.

These indictments follow a notable tradition in the Southern District of California for targeting leadership and operations of powerful Mexican cartels – from the dismantling of the Arellano Felix Cartel to major strikes against today’s most dangerous, powerful and violent cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel and now the Beltran Leyva Organization. It is the first indictment from the newly formed Narco-Terrorism Unit which was established upon the swearing in of U.S. Attorney Gordon on April 11, 2025.

The indictment of Pedro Inzunza Noriega reflects the Southern District of California’s pursuit of the Sinaloa Cartel. Federal drug trafficking indictments are pending against all alleged leaders of its Beltran Leyva faction, including:

• Fausto Isidro Meza Flores aka “Chapo Isidro,” case number: 19-CR-1272 in the Southern District of California and 12-116BAH in the District of Columbia
• Oscar Manuel Gastelum Iribe aka “El Musico,” case number 19-CR-3736 in the Southern District of California; 09-CR-00672 in the Northern District of Illinois; 15-CR-00195 in the District of Columbia, and
• Pedro Inzunza Noriega aka “Sagitario,” case number 25cr1505.

The Southern District of California also has indictments pending against other leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, including:

• Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar aka “El Chapito,” case number 14-cr-00658 in the Southern District of California and 09-CR-383 in the Northern District of Illinois
• Ismael Zambada Sicairos aka “Mayito Flaco,” case number: 14-cr-00658 in the Southern District of California; and
• Jose Gil Caro Quintero aka “El Chino,” case number 22-cr-00036 in the District of Columbia

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Mellor and Matthew Sutton.

DEFENDANTS                                             Case Number 25cr1505                                               

Pedro Inzunza Noriega                                    Age: 62              Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico

aka “Sagitario,” aka “120,”  aka “El De La Silla”

Pedro Inzunza Coronel                                    Age: 33              Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico

Aka “Pichon,” Aka “Pajaro”                                               
 Aka “Bird”

David Alejandro Heredia Velazquez                Age: 50             Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and 

Aka “Tano,” Aka “Mr. Jordan”                                                   Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico                                                                                                                                                                    
Oscar Rene Gonzalez Menendez                       Age: 45             Guatemala City, Guatemala        Aka “Rubio”

Elias Alberto Quiros Benavides                        Age: 53              San Jose, Costa Rica

Daniel Eduardo Bojorquez                               Age: 47              Nogales, Sonora, Mexico

Aka “Chopper”

Javier Alonso Vazquez Sanchez                       Age: 31               Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico

Aka “Tito”, Aka “Drilo”

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 960a and 841 – Narco-Terrorism

Maximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 20 years in prison; $20 million fine

Title 18, U.S.C. Sec. 2339B – Providing Material Support to Terrorism

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

Title 21, U.S.C., Sec. 848(a) -Continuing Criminal Enterprise

Maximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 20 years; $10 million fine

Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 952, 959, 960, and 963 - International Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances

Maximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years; $10 million fine

Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 841(a)(1) and 846 - Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances

Maximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years in prison; $10 million fine

Title 21, U.S.C., Secs. 952, 960 and 963 – Conspiracy to Import Controlled Substances

Maximum penalty: Life in prison, mandatory minimum 10 years; $10 million fine

Money Laundering Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and a fine of the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the monetary instrument or funds involved

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Federal Bureau of Investigation

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

This case is the result of ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.

Indictment 

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 176 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On May 8, Ismael Castro-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Assault on a Federal Officer and Attempted Entry of a Removed Alien. According to a complaint, two Border Patrol agents were attacked by Castro and others when they attempted to rescue Castro, who was hanging from barbed wire on the border wall with a broken ladder nearby. The agents were pelted with rocks by other immigrants, including one who was sitting atop the wall. One agent grabbed Castro’s right hand and forced him to release the wire. Once he broke Castro’s grip, the agent was able to pull Castro from the wire and take him to the ground, where Castro continued to struggle and attempted to tackle the agent. As they fell to the ground, Castro started reaching for the agent’s gun and collapsible steel baton.  The two agents were able to subdue Castro and arrest him. Castro was previously deported to Mexico on June 29, 2022, through the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
• On May 6, Rosa Cervantez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Cervantez attempted to cross the border in the SENTRI lane at the Calexico West Port of Entry but a Customs and Border Protection officer discovered 36 plastic-wrapped packages hidden in a spare tire well of her car containing 85 pounds of fentanyl and more than 2 pounds of cocaine.
• On May 7, Salvador Hernandez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Hernandez attempted to smuggle three pounds of methamphetamine through the pedestrian lanes of the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Customs and Border Protection officers found three packages concealed in Hernandez’s waistline secured with Saran Wrap.
• On May 7, Jose Tomas Lopez-Navarro of Honduras was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Lopez-Navarro submitted a counterfeit passport to a Customs and Border Patrol officer when asking to be admitted to the U.S. at the San Ysidro Pedestrian East Port of Entry. Lopez-Navarro had been previously removed from the U.S. to Honduras on February 4, 2025.

Also recently, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On April 30, Abner Leon-Mote, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon in April 2018, was found guilty by a jury of Attempted Reentry of Removed Alien for again entering the U.S. illegally. Sentencing is scheduled for July 29, 2025 and Leon-Mote faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
• On May 5, Omar Laveaga-Flores, a Mexican national who was previously convicted of an illegal entry offense in Arizona in 2022, was sentenced in federal court to 60 days in custody for again entering the U.S illegally.
• On May 8, Juan Melgoza-Soto and Santiago Alfredo Gonzalez Hara, previously removed Mexican nationals, were sentenced in federal court to 73 days in custody for bringing an undocumented alien into the United States from Mexico.
• On May 9, Martin Josue Gutierrez, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced to six months in custody for Transportation of Certain Aliens. The defendant had seven undocumented individuals in a truck, including several under a tarp in the bed of the truck, and failed to yield during an attempted vehicle stop by law enforcement.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO - The United States has filed a civil complaint alleging that two brothers fraudulently obtained more than $8 million in pandemic-related loans by lying on applications and claiming funds for three businesses that don’t exist.

The loans were issued through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a federal law enacted in March 2020 designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPP offered relief by authorizing hundreds of billions of dollars in potentially-forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses.

The loan applications required the borrower to certify the type of business, the number of employees the business supported, and that the business was in operation as of February 15, 2020. Borrowers were eligible to seek forgiveness of the loans if they spent the loan proceeds on employee payroll and other eligible expenses.

The civil complaint alleges that between March 25, 2021, and April 28, 2021, brothers Duraid A. Zaia and Kusay Karana obtained four PPP loans for four businesses, two purportedly owned by Zaia and two by Karana. The complaint alleges that the businesses were either non-existent or were grossly exaggerated in size. The complaint alleges that Zaia and Karana obtained approximately $8.3 million dollars in PPP loans through those fraudulent applications.

In one example, the complaint alleges that Zaia applied for a PPP loan for a business called “Ramona Egg Ranch.” The complaint describes how Zaia certified in his application that this business employed 75 people and had annual payroll costs exceeding $9.5 million. But, according to the complaint, federal income tax returns that Zaia submitted in support of that loan reported annual payroll costs of just $62,848.

In another example the complaint alleges that soon after Zaia submitted the Ramona Egg Ranch application, he submitted a second application for a business called “The Duriad A. Zaia Sole Proprietorship.” The complaint describes how Zaia certified that the business employed 137 people and that it was established in 2016. But, according to the complaint, the business could not have operated at all in 2020 because it did not have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) until March 30, 2021. As the complaint explains, without an EIN a business could not legally pay employees because it would not have a tax identification number to report employee wages, payroll taxes, or its own income taxes.

The complaint also alleges that Zaia and Karana bolstered their loans by fabricating lists of employees who worked at their businesses. The complaint asserts that the lists of employees are fraudulent because they show a large percentage of employees simultaneously working at two or more different businesses on a full-time basis. In one example, the complaint describes how Zaia submitted a list of 108 employees that supposedly worked at one of Zaia’s businesses, and Karana submitted a list of 110 employees that supposedly worked at one of Karana’s businesses. But 41 people with the same name and the same full-time equivalent salary appeared on both lists.

The complaint alleges that after Zaia and Karana were denied forgiveness of their loans and then defaulted on all their loans, the United States, through the Small Business Administration (SBA), repaid the lenders that issued the loans. The complaint asserts that taken together, the principal, interest, and processing fees for the brothers’ loans resulted in a loss of over $8.6 million to the United States.

The United States’ complaint asserts that Zaia and Karana violated the False Claims Act (FCA). The United States filed its complaint after it intervened in a lawsuit filed by a private citizen against Zaia and the Ramona Egg Ranch. Under its so-called qui tam provisions, the FCA allows private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the federal government to sue on behalf of the government and potentially receive a portion of recovered funds.

“COVID-relief programs were designed to help people and businesses under extreme financial stress during the pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “This complaint seeks to hold accountable those who took advantage of those programs by fraud. My office will continue to pursue those who knowingly cheat taxpayers by abusing the Paycheck Protection Program and other pandemic-related programs.”

“Intentional misrepresentation to gain access to SBA program funds intended for the nation’s small businesses will not be tolerated,” said SBA OIG’s Western Region Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Huang. “Our Office will remain relentless in the pursuit of wrongdoers who seek to exploit SBA’s vital economic programs. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and our law enforcement partners for their dedication and commitment to seeing justice served.”

This case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen H. Wong of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The complaint contains allegations of unlawful conduct; the allegations must be proven in federal court.

WASHINGTON – Edgar Balderas, 27, of San Diego, California, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 148 months in prison for participating in a massive fentanyl trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills from Southern California to destinations throughout the United States, including the District. Balderas was one of more than two dozen co-defendants arrested over the course of 2023 in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, San Diego, and Los Angeles and charged in the conspiracy.

The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr., DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian of the Drug Enforcement Administration Washington Division, and Inspector in Charge Damon E. Wood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division.

Balderas, aka “Nano,” pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2024, to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. In addition to the 148-month prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Balderas to serve five years of supervised release.

The impetus for this investigation was the overdose death of Diamond Lynch, a young mother in Southeast D.C. In addition to investigating and prosecuting the death-resulting case, law enforcement followed the evidence and uncovered a vast network of traffickers who transported fentanyl from Mexico to Los Angeles to the District of Columbia. Since then, investigators have seized more than 450,000 fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl powder, and 30 firearms. 

According to court documents, Balderas conspired with a Los Angeles-based fentanyl trafficker to supply him with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, which the trafficker would, in turn, supply to his D.C.-based customers. He began supplying the trafficker with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills in Fall 2022 and continued until the L.A.-based trafficker’s arrest in late-February 2023.

After the Los Angeles-based trafficker’s arrest in late-February 2023, Balderas attempted to begin dealing fentanyl directly to D.C.-based fentanyl distributors. For example, Balderas began communicating via Instagram with a D.C.-based co-defendant in this case the month after the Los Angeles-based trafficker’s arrest. The purpose of these communications was to arrange for the direct sale of fentanyl pills to the D.C.-based co-conspirator, along with other D.C.-based clients of the Los Angeles-based fentanyl trafficker.

Hector David Valdez,

aka “Curl”

27

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

Craig Eastman

21

Bell Gardens,

California

Bell Gardens,

California

Bell Gardens,

California

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit wire fraud

Marvin Anthony Bussie,

aka “Money Marr”

Andre Malik Edmond,

aka “Draco”

Treyveon James Johnson,

aka “Treyski”

Karon Olufemi Blalock,

aka “Fat Bags”

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit wire fraud;

Conspiracy to commit money laundering

Ronte Ricardo Greene,

aka “Cardiddy”

Darius Quincy Hodges,

aka “Brick”

Lamin Sesay,

aka “Rock Star”

Glendale,

California

Omar Arana,

aka “Frogs”

Cudahy,

California

San Diego,

California

Long Beach,

California

Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl;

Conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

The prosecutions followed a joint investigation by the DEA Washington Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with additional support from the DEA Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside Field Offices, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office, and the Charles County, Maryland Sheriff’s Office. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Central and Southern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Maryland.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Kinskey, Solomon S. Eppel, and Iris Y. McCranie of the Violence Reduction and Trafficking Offenses Section.

23cr73

SAN DIEGO – Today, the Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Restore Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track and arrest child sex predators. The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown.  The coordinated effort was executed over the course of five days by all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Department’s Criminal Division, and United States Attorney’s Offices around the country.

“The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest, and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.”

“Every child deserves to grow up free from fear and exploitation, and the FBI will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of those who exploit the most vulnerable among us,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Operation Restore Justice proves that no predator is out of reach and no child will be forgotten. By leveraging the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state and local partners, we’re sending a clear message: there is no place to hide for those who prey on children.”

“Protecting our community means identifying, arresting and holding accountable anyone who would prey on children,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “I’m grateful for the coordinated efforts of law enforcement in this district and across the nation, and our office will continue to prioritize these prosecutions to obtain justice for these vulnerable victims.”

“Each arrest is a powerful testament to the tireless efforts of the FBI and our dedicated law enforcement partners to protect the most vulnerable among us,” said FBI San Diego Acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi. “It reaffirms our unwavering commitment to pursuing justice for victims and holding predators accountable.”

In the Southern District of California, four individuals were arrested and charged with federal crimes, including:

• Seth Wheeler, who was indicted for distribution of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Wheeler is alleged to have distributed child pornography on two different occasions in September 2024, and in possession of child pornography in October 2024.  He was previously arrested by the state and remained in state custody until he was indicted on federal charges.
• Adam Harrison Bryant, a convicted sex offender who was charged with possession of child pornography. The investigation of Bryan began when it was suspected that he had attempted to purchase child pornography from a website using cryptocurrency.  A search warrant was executed on May 1, 2025, and Bryant was arrested when he was found in possession of an electronic device that contained child pornography. He was previously convicted in 2008 of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and enticing a child and was sentenced to 40 months and 24 months, concurrent, followed by ten years of supervised release.
• Kristho Angel Valdez, whowas charged with receipt of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Law enforcement officials were notified that two minor victims were exchanging sexually explicit content, including images and videos, through Snapchat with an unknown individual. Valdez was identified as the potential user of the Snapchat account and a search warrant for the account revealed thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of minors. On March 12, 2025, a search warrant was executed at Valdez’s residence. Valdez admitted to receiving sexually explicit videos from the minor victims.
• Christopher David Miller, who was charged with attempted receipt and possession of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Agents began investigating Miller when they determined that IP addresses linked to his current and former residences attempted to obtain child pornography using Freenet, a peer-to-peer file sharing platform. A search warrant was executed at Miller’s residence on April 9, 2025, and Miller was found to be in possession of electronic devices containing child pornography.

Others arrested around the country are alleged to have committed various crimes including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material, online enticement and transportation of minors, and child sex trafficking. In Minneapolis, for example, a state trooper and Army Reservist was arrested for allegedly producing child sexual abuse material while wearing his uniforms. In Norfolk, VA, an illegal alien from Mexico is accused of transporting a minor across state lines for sex. In Washington, D.C., a former Metropolitan Police Department Police Officer was arrested for allegedly trafficking minor victims.

In many cases, parental vigilance and community outreach efforts played a critical role in bringing these offenders to justice. For example, a California man was arrested about eight hours after a young victim bravely came forward and disclosed their abuse to FBI agents after an online safety presentation at a school near Albany, N.Y.

This effort follows the Department’s observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April and underscores the Department’s unwavering commitment to protecting children and raising awareness about the dangers they face. While the Department, including the FBI, investigates and prosecutes these crimes every day, April serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of preventing these crimes, seeking justice for victims, and raising awareness through community education.

The Justice Department is committed to combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

The Department partners with and oversees funding grants for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives and shares tips about possible child sexual exploitation received through its 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and on missingkids.org.

The Department urges the public to remain vigilant and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI’s tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), tips.fbi.gov, or by calling your local FBI field office.

Other online resources:

Violent Crimes Against Children

How we can help you: Parents and caregivers protecting your kids

An indictment or complaint is merely an allegation. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers Farlis Almonte, Ricardo Rodriguez and Kairy Stephania Quiñonez are charged in an indictment with allowing vehicles with undocumented individuals to pass through their lanes into the U.S. without inspection while working at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The indictment alleges that Almonte, Rodriguez, and Quiñonez revealed their lane assignments and hours they were scheduled to work the primary inspection booths at the San Ysidro Port of Entry so that co-conspirators would know when it was safe to transport undocumented individuals across the border with impunity - sometimes using code words to gain admittance.

According to the indictment, the defendants falsely reported in the Transportation Enforcement Communications System – a database known as “TECS” that is used by CBP officers - the number of occupants in co-conspirators’ vehicles to conceal the fact that those vehicles contained undocumented individuals.

Almonte and Rodriguez are also charged with receipt of bribes by a public official. The indictment alleges that in exchange for money, they failed to enforce the immigration laws of the United States by allowing vehicles with undocumented immigrants to enter the United States.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francisco Nagel and Bianca Calderon-Peñaloza.

DEFENDANTS                                 Case Number 25-CR-1502                                      

Farlis Almonte                                    Age: 38                       San Diego, California

Ricardo Rodriguez                              Age: 34                       Tijuana, Mexico

Kairy Stephania Quiñonez                  Age: 31                       Imperial Beach, California

SUMMARY OF CHARGE

Conspiracy to Bring in Aliens for Financial Gain – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371 and Title 8, U.S.C. Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii)

Maximum Penalty: Five years in prison

Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain, Aiding and Abetting - Title 8, U.S.C. Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii) and Title 18, U.S.C. Section 2

Maximum Penalty: Fifteen years in prison with a five-year mandatory minimum

Receipt of Bribes by Public Official - Title 18, U.S.C., Section 201(b)(2)(C)

Maximum Penalty: Fifteen years in prison

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General

Homeland Security Investigations

Drug Enforcement Administration

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations

United States Border Patrol

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

SAN DIEGO – Steven Terrell Lewis of El Cajon was convicted by a federal jury of attempted coercion and enticement of a 14-year-old high school student and attempted sex trafficking by force or coercion of a 22-year-old woman.

According to evidence presented at trial, on April 22, 2024, as the 14-year-old victim was walking to a friend’s house after school around 3 p.m. in El Cajon, Lewis used his vehicle to pin her on the sidewalk, exited his vehicle and snatched her cellphone from her hand to get her cellphone number. Lewis then proceeded to send sexually explicit text messages (from a phone number ending in 8155) to the victim before she was able to block his phone number. The next day, on April 23, 2024, Lewis continued texting the victim, except this time from a different phone number through TextFree, a mobile application and web service (from a phone number ending in 0014).

When Lewis identified himself as “Pimpin,” sent a sexually explicit photograph and invited the victim to “go get some money” with him, the minor victim immediately notified a coach at her high school. The El Cajon Police Department and San Diego Sheriff’s Office responded.

After Lewis’s attempt to sex traffic the minor victim failed, one week later, on April 28, 2024, he began recruiting the 22-year-old victim through MegaPersonals and sent a ride-share vehicle to take her to Roosevelt Avenue in National City, known as “the blade,” to work street-based prostitution for his financial benefit. Fortunately, on April 29, 2024, the adult victim was picked up by an undercover National City police office posing as a commercial sex buyer and was offered resources to leave prostitution. However, Lewis continued to message the adult victim (from both phone numbers ending in 8155 and 0014), threatening her to continue to engage in commercial sex for his benefit, to include:

Officers from the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force conducted physical surveillance of Lewis, a search of his vehicles, residence and cell phones, and ultimately arrested him on May 16, 2024. The victims did not know each other. Investigators believe that other potential victims exist because they discovered a photograph of a handwritten note during a search of Lewis’s phone that appears to have been written by a concerned parent to Lewis. The note reads, “If I find out one more time that this car is following my daughter down Graves Ave we will have a problem. I suggest you f---- chill.”

At the time, Lewis was driving two vehicles that were registered to him, including a white, four-door 1996 Oldsmobile bearing California license plate number 3TIF671:

And a brown or beige colored, four-door 1986 Chevrolet bearing California licenses plate number 1REC517:

If you believe you or someone you know has had an encounter with Lewis or you know the author of the note, investigators ask that you contact the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.

“The jury’s guilty verdicts are a powerful reminder that human trafficking has no place in our society.  These verdicts are not just justice for the victims – it is a warning to human traffickers everywhere that those who exploit and attempt to exploit others for profit will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law, no matter how long it takes,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “I commend the bravery of the survivors who came forward.  Their truth helped convict a predator – and protect countless others.”

“This guilty verdict sends the powerful message that those who exploit children will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” said Shawn Gibson, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Diego. “This outcome is the result of relentless cooperation among local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Our agency remains steadfast in our mission to bring perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice and to stand beside every victim until justice is served.”

“Every year, there are thousands of reported human trafficking cases across the United States — including right here in California,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Whether it’s for sex or labor, abusing power to force or coerce someone into doing something against their will is wrong. At the California Department of Justice, we’re committed to standing up for survivors, disrupting and dismantling human trafficking rings, and securing justice. I am thankful for our federal, state and local partners because it takes all of us to combat human trafficking. If you or someone you know has been affected by human trafficking, there are resources available to you. You are not alone.”

“As a member of the Human Trafficking Task Force the protection of our youth is our top priority,” said San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl. “This case highlights the importance of  collaboration and the need to share information in order to bring suspects like this into custody.”

Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced on August 1, 2025.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lyndzie M. Carter and Derek Ko.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 24cr1349-JES                            

Steven Terrell Lewis                                       Age: 39                                   El Cajon, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Attempted Coercion/Enticement of a Minor – 18 U.S.C., Section 2422(b)

Maximum penalty: Ten-year mandatory minimum up to life

Attempted Sex Trafficking by Force/Coercion, 18 U.S.C., Section 1591(a)

Maximum penalty: Fifteen-year mandatory minimum up to life

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force

Homeland Security Investigations

National City Police Department

El Cajon Police Department

San Diego Sheriff’s Office

San Diego District Attorney’s Office

SAN DIEGO – Two complaints were filed in federal court today charging five people with participating in a human smuggling event that led to the deaths of at least three migrants, including a 14-year-old boy from India. His 10-year-old sister is still missing at sea and presumed dead; their father is in a coma and mother is also hospitalized.

According to court records, on May 5, 2025, witnesses observed an overturned panga boat at a beach in Del Mar, California. Bystanders and San Diego Lifeguards participated in rescue efforts. Law enforcement officials recovered three bodies, including the boy, identified in court records as P.P.B. Four others were rescued and hospitalized, including P.P.B.’s mother and father; nine others were initially unaccounted for, including P.B.B.’s 10-year-old sister.

Two men believed to be involved in the smuggling event – Mexican nationals Julio Cesar Zuniga Luna and Jesus Juan Rodriguez Leyva - were arrested Monday at the beach and charged today with Bringing in Aliens Resulting in Death and Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain.

Later Monday night, Border Patrol agents were conducting operations in Chula Vista, California where they identified a vehicle that had been observed at the scene of the maritime smuggling incident earlier that day. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene. During the investigation, Border Patrol Agents identified two other vehicles that were involved in the smuggling event and were able to successfully stop and arrest the drivers of these load vehicles and locate eight of the nine migrants missing from the boat, with the exception of the 10-year-old sister of P.P.B.

Melissa Jenelle Cota, Gustavo Lara and Sergio Rojas-Fregosa – all Mexican nationals - were arrested and charged with Transportation of Illegal Aliens. Rojas-Fregoso, was identified as an alien who had previously been deported on December 19, 2023.

“The drowning deaths of these children are a heartbreaking reminder of how little human traffickers care about the costs of their deadly business,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “We are committed to seeking justice for these vulnerable victims, and to holding accountable any traffickers responsible for their deaths.”

“Human smuggling, regardless of the route, is not only illegal but extremely dangerous. Smugglers often treat people as disposable commodities, leading to tragic and sometimes deadly consequences, as we saw in this case,” said Shawn Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Diego. “Yesterday's heartbreaking events are a stark reminder of the urgent need to dismantle these criminal networks driven by greed. The HSI along with the U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard, and other partners from the Marine Task Force, remains firmly committed to holding those responsible accountable for these senseless deaths.”

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Van Demark and Edward Chang.

DEFENDANTS                                            

Case Number 25mj02403-JLB

Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva                          Age: 36                                  Mexico

Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna                                Age: 30                                   Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Bringing in Aliens Resulting in Death – Title 8, U.S.C., Sections 1324(a)(1)(A)(i), (v)(II), and (a)(1)(B)(iv)

Maximum penalty: Death or Life in Prison and $250,000 fine

Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii)

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison with a three-year mandatory minimum and $250,000 fine

Case Number 25mj2386-JLB

Melissa Jennelle Cota                                    Age: 33                                  Mexico

Gustavo Lara                                                  Age: 32                                   Mexico

Sergio Rojas-Fregoso                                     Age: 31                                   Mexico

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Transportation of Illegal Aliens – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii)

Maximum penalty: Ten years in prison and $500,000 fine

Deported Alien Found in the United States – Title 8, U.S.C., Section 1326

Maximum penalty: Two years in prison and $250,000 fine

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations – Marine Task Force

Homeland Security Investigations

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

United States Coast Guard

San Diego Lifeguard Service

San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 124 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America’s eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico’s second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

• On April 28, Jose Maria Murillo Estrada, a Mexican national, was arrested and charged with Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Federal Officers and reentry after deportation. According to a complaint, the assault happened after Murillo attempted to make entry into the United States from Mexico through the San Ysidro Port of Entry by running through vehicle primary lanes and was intercepted by officers.
• On April 27, Emma Alejandra Medina, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Bringing in Aliens for Financial Gain. According to a complaint, Medina was captain of a boat that was transporting eight undocumented immigrants on San Diego Bay.
• On April 26, Jorge Alexandro Tellez, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Tellez was taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection officers after he attempted to cross the border in his vehicle in the San Ysidro Port of Entry’s SENTRI lane with 286 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in all four doors, the seats, the spare tire, the tailgate, and in multiple tool bags located inside the vehicle.

Also this week, a number of defendants with criminal records were convicted by a jury or sentenced for border-related crimes such as illegally re-entering the U.S. after previous deportation. Here are a few of those cases:

• On May 1, Juan Morales-Lopez, a Mexican national who was last deported in November 2024 and immediately returned on December 10th, was sentenced in federal court to 18 months in custody consecutive to 12 months custody for violating the terms of his supervised released for his earlier illegal entry conviction, for a total of 30 months in custody. Morales-Lopez has 10 illegal entry felony convictions in total and has been removed from the United States a total of 35 times.
• On May 1, Jose Ramon Ochoa-Monteverde, a Mexican national living in the United States on a Visa, was sentenced in federal court to 84 months in custody for his role as a coordinator and courier for a drug trafficking organization based in Mexico, Imperial Valley, and the Central District of California. In one instance, Ochoa-Monteverde loaded a tractor trailer with duffel bags containing 106.38 kilograms of methamphetamine at a truck stop in Brawley, CA.
• On April 28, Alejandro Gutierrez-Aguilar, who was previously convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute in 2014, was sentenced in federal court to 30 months in custody for again entering the U.S illegally.

Pursuant to the Department’s Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

The immigration cases were referred or supported by federal law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO), Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with the support and assistance of state and local law enforcement partners.

Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

SAN DIEGO – Jonathan Manuel Flores was sentenced in federal court today to 135 months in prison for his role in an illegal firearms business and for robbing an undercover Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent at gun point during a machine gun deal gone wrong.

ATF special agents were conducting a months-long investigation into the trafficking of privately manufactured firearms, commonly referred to as “ghost guns,” and guns modified with illegal auto conversion devices that transform everyday firearms into dangerous machine guns, when the defendant decided to rob an undercover ATF special agent, instead of selling the agent the firearm.

During that deal on February 17, 2023, ATF special agents conducted an undercover operation in San Diego to purchase a Glock pistol with a full auto conversion device, commonly known as a “Glock Switch,” for $2,400.

In a meeting in the parking lot of Walmart on Murphy Canyon Road, the defendant insisted that the gun deal take place in the backseat of his car. The undercover agent got into the back seat of the defendant’s parked car as requested. When the undercover agent entered the car there were two other individuals seated in the driver’s seat and front passenger seat of the car. Once inside the car, Flores showed the agent a Glock pistol with an extended magazine inserted and a machinegun conversion device installed.

Although the agent asked to hold the firearm, Flores insisted the agent show and count the money first. As the undercover agent finished counting $2,000 in cash, the defendant pulled back the slide on the pistol to make it ready to shoot and pushed the muzzle into the undercover agent’s ribcage. He then said, “Get the f---- out of the car dog before I smoke you” while grabbing the cash from the agent’s hand. The agent successfully exited the vehicle. Flores and his two companions fled. Flores was later apprehended with the assistance of the San Diego Police Department.

“This robbery is a stark reminder of the extreme danger our agents face every day in their efforts to keep illegal firearms off our streets,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “We are grateful for our law enforcement partners working to keep these dangerous firearms out of the hands of felons.”

“ATF’s core mission is to protect the public by investigating and apprehending the most violent offenders in our communities,” said ATF Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper. “It is an honor to work with our state, local, and federal partners to successfully carry out our public safety mission.” Cooper thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the El Cajon Police Department, and San Diego Police Department for working with ATF in the investigation, apprehension, and successful prosecution of Jonathan Manuel Flores.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Evangeline Dech and Alicia Williams.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 23cr00512CAB                                 

Jonathan Manuel Flores                                  Age: 20                                   Chula Vista, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Assault on a Federal Officer with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon - 18 U.S.C. § 111(b)

Maximum Penalties: Twenty Years in prison; $250,000 fine

Brandishing a Firearm in Furtherance of a Crime of Violence - 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) 

Maximum Penalty: Mandatory minimum seven years to life in prison, consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed as to Count 5; $250,000 fine

Engaging in the Business of Dealing Firearms Without a License - 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)(A), 923(a), and 924(a)(1)(D); Aiding and Abetting - 18 U.S.C. § 2

Maximum penalties: Five years in prison; $250,000 fine 

INVESTIGATING AGENCY

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.