News Releases

ICE's top 5 news stories for the week ending Oct. 28, 2011

Oct. 27, 2011 – Texas hotel owner sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for smuggling and harboring illegal aliens, money laundering and income tax fraud

Song U. Chon, an El Paso, Texas hotel owner, devised a plan to smuggle hundreds of illegal aliens into the United States from across the globe. He harbored the aliens in El Paso using the Gateway Hotel and other locations. On Oct. 21, he was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Full Story

Oct. 27, 2011 – 6 men plead guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in the Washington, D.C.-area

Six men pleaded guilty to federal drug charges following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Metropolitan Police Department. The defendants were working to create a distribution network and market for crystal methamphetamine in the Washington, D.C.-area. Full Story

Oct. 25, 2011 – 2 Bulgarian nationals sentenced for ATM skimming

Ivaylo Hristov and Vladislav Vladev were sentenced in connection with a skimming scheme that compromised numerous ATMs throughout eastern Massachusetts. The two men stole more than $135,000 as a result of the scheme. ICE HSI special agents investigated both individuals for using counterfeit ATM cards, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Full Story

Oct. 25, 2011 – Grand jury indicts New Mexico woman for firearms trafficking

Gabriela Gutierrez was named in a five-count indictment in connection with a firearms trafficking investigation led by ICE HSI. She allegedly conspired with her husband and others to purchase firearms in the United States knowing they were intended to be smuggled into Mexico. Full Story

Oct. 25, 2011 – Website operator indicted for illegally streaming copyrighted sporting events

Brian McCarthy allegedly operated channelsurfing.net, a website that provided links to various live streams of copyright-protected sporting event telecasts without authorization. He was indicted for criminal infringement of a copyright this week. Full Story