Texas Resident Guilty of Smuggling Marijuana

A Kingsville, Texas, man was found guilty Monday, February 4, 2013, of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

This conviction resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Kingsville Narcotics Task Force.

Michael "Mickey" Pena, 45, was found guilty by a federal jury for participating in a drug trafficking organization that transported large amounts of marijuana concealed in the hulls of altered shallow-bottom fishing boats. The marijuana was transported via the intracoastal waterway from Port Mansfield to Corpus Christi to circumvent Border Patrol checkpoints in Falfurrias and Serta, Texas. The federal jury returned their verdict in Corpus Christi after deliberating only 30 minutes following the trial that lasted less than a day.

"Drug smugglers seek the path of least resistance," said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of HSI Houston. "The great collaborative work of our special agents and law enforcement partners in this case should give pause to trafficking organizations who seek to exploit our coastal waters to move illegal drugs into this country."

Court testimony revealed that in early 2012, drug trafficking organization members deconstructed a 21-foot Dargel Scout fishing boat over 20 days. The hull of the vessel was then loaded with more than 1,100 pounds of marijuana, and the deck of the boat was rebuilt. The boat was then launched in Port Mansfield and co-defendant Rogelio Mendoza drove it north. 

Marine interdiction agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intercepted the vessel just south of Corpus Christi.

Subsequent investigation by HSI revealed that Pena arrived at marker 37 with an empty boat trailer shortly after the boat was intercepted and had registered the vessel in his name two weeks earlier. Certified state documents showed that the previous owner of both the boat and the empty trailer were members of the drug trafficking organization. Special agents also testified that they had conducted surveillance of organization members scouting boat ramps near marker 37 about six weeks before the seizure and then immediately drove to Pena's Kingsville residence.

Mendoza, 37, and five other members of the conspiracy had previously pleaded guilty before U.S. district judges in Corpus Christi and have been or are awaiting sentencing. Those drug trafficking members include: Alberto Lopez, aka Alberto Lopez-Reyna, 39, Lombardo Zarate, 49, Glen Dial, 56, Luz Ramirez, 25, and Hector Perez-Gonzalez, 39.

Senior U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack, who presided over the trial, has set sentencing for April 17, at which time Pena will face a minimum of five and up to 40 years in prison, as well as a possible $5 million fine, and a substantial money judgment. Pena will remain in custody pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey D. Preston, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case. 

California Company Fined by ICE for Hiring Illegal Immigrant Employees

As part its enforcement strategy to reduce illegal employment and protect job opportunities for the nation's lawful workforce, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Tuesday, February 5, 2013, that 10 employers in San Diego and Imperial counties were fined by ICE during fiscal year 2012 for various employment-related violations.

Collectively, the fines totaled more than $173,800, with the largest fine, $50,000, being lodged against a San Diego-area medical transportation service. The fines were imposed after ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) found the businesses had failed to comply with laws prohibiting the hiring of unauthorized workers.

One of the ways HSI identifies potential hiring violations is by auditing employers' Form I-9s, the document businesses use to verify an employee's eligibility to work. Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire. In fiscal year 2012, HSI conducted 151 worksite audits in San Diego and Imperial counties, compared to 86 audits the previous year and 63 audits in fiscal year 2010.

"Employers who build their business model upon an illegal workforce will be held accountable," said Derek Benner, special agent in charge for HSI San Diego. "We encourage employers to take the employee verification process seriously. Employers must understand that the integrity of their employment records is just as important to the federal government as the integrity of their tax files or banking records."

Below, in alphabetical order, is a list of the businesses in San Diego and Imperial counties that received final fine notices from ICE in fiscal year 2012:

·                             Aquarius Yacht Services – $13,744 fine

·                             Balboa Ambulance Incorporated – $50,000 fine

·                             El Sol Meat Market – $24,050 fine

·                             Harmony Egg Ranch – $9,000 fine

·                             International Consolidated Cargo – $7,480 fine

·                             Mexicali Chicken and Salad – $21,500 fine

·                             Old Town Buffet – $15,000 fine

·                             Rocha Trucking & Parking Inc. – $8,000 fine

·                             Stanford Sign and Awning Inc. – $9,600 fine

·                             TDG Aerospace – $15,427.50 fine

The $173,800 in civil fines lodged against area San Diego-area companies in fiscal year 2012 represents an 18 percent increase over fiscal year 2011, when HSI imposed $146,577 in civil fines locally against 11 employers.

While HSI continues to pursue criminal cases against unscrupulous employers, it now places increased emphasis on gaining employers' compliance and outreach to the business community. As part of this effort, HSI utilizes all available civil and administrative tools, including Form I-9 inspections, civil fines and debarment. HSI also actively promotes the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) outreach program. IMAGE is a voluntary partnership between the government and the private sector where employers receive invaluable training and are provided with additional tools to strengthen the integrity of their workforce and curtail the employment of unauthorized workers. There are currently 11 San Diego-area companies that are certified members of the IMAGE program.

Nationwide, HSI conducted more than 3,000 worksite audits in fiscal year 2012 as compared to 2,496 the previous year. In fiscal year 2012, the worksite audits and related investigations resulted in the issuance of 495 final fine notices totaling more than $12.4 million. That compares to 385 civil fines assessed in fiscal year 2011 totaling $16.3 million. 

Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Tax Evasion

A New Jersey man pleaded guilty Wednesday, January 30, 2013, in connection with his role in a large-scale identity-theft scheme. If convicted, he faces up to 52 years in prison. This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Criminal Investigation and the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Sang-Kyu Seo, 63, of Palisades Park, N.J., pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to unlawfully produce identification documents and false identification documents, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and tax evasion.

According to court documents, Seo was the owner and operator of Hang Jin Yi Inc., doing business as Hwangini, a salon located in North Bergen, N.J., and Pier 7 Corporation, a purported small business located in Palisades Park.

Seo conspired with Sang-Hyun Park, aka Jimmy, and others, to obtain a Social Security number beginning with the prefix '586' for another individual. These 586 Social Security numbers were issued by the U.S. to individuals, usually from China, who were employed in American territories, such as Guam. Park is alleged to have been the leader of a criminal organization headquartered in Bergen County that obtained, brokered and sold identity documents to customers to commit credit card fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud and other crimes.

Park pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to his role in the enterprise, and is awaiting sentencing.

This criminal enterprise engaged in the fraudulent 'build-up' of credit scores associated with the Chinese identities. They did so by adding the Chinese identity as an authorized user to the credit card accounts of various co-conspirators - members of the enterprise's credit build-up teams who received a fee for this service. By attaching the Chinese identities to these existing credit card accounts, the teams increased the credit scores associated with the Chinese identities to between 700 and 800. The members of the build-up teams did not know the real person to whom the identity belonged or virtually any of the customers who had purchased the identities.

After building up the credit associated with these identities, Park and his co-conspirators directed, coached and assisted the customers in opening bank accounts and obtaining credit cards. Park and his co-conspirators then used these accounts and credit cards to commit fraud. Park relied on several collusive merchants who possessed credit card processing machines. For a fee, known as a 'kkang fee,' these collusive merchants charged the fraudulently obtained credit cards, although no transaction took place. After receiving the money into their merchant accounts from these fraudulent transactions, the collusive merchants gave the money to Park and his co-conspirators, minus their kkang fee.

Seo admitted that he obtained a 586 Social Security card and counterfeit driver's licenses through Park for a family member, who then used this identity to 'bust out' credit cards. Seo also admitted that he gave his corporate and personal credit cards to Park for the purpose of 'busting out' these maxed-out credit cards. In furtherance of this conspiracy, Park and his co-conspirators issued worthless checks, drawn on bank accounts that had been established using the 586 identities, as payment toward the balances on Seo's credit cards.

Before the banks and credit card companies realized that these checks were bogus, Park and his co-conspirators charged Seo's credit cards through collusive merchants or used them to purchase merchandise.

Seo also admitted that in 2007, with the assistance of a loan broker, he fraudulently obtained a $100,000 commercial loan on behalf of Pier 7. Seo admitted that he and the loan broker made false statements to obtain the loan including falsely representing that his businesses annual revenue was about $620,000.

Finally, Seo admitted that he committed tax evasion by issuing checks to himself and others, representing income derived through the operation of Hwangini, and then failing to report this income on his personal tax returns.

Seo admitted that in April 2008, he filed an individual income tax return for tax year 2007. This return declared that his taxable income for calendar year 2007 was about $197, and the amount of tax due and owing was about $19. Seo admitted that this return failed to include $304,848 in additional taxable income that he had received in 2007, thus having an additional tax of $81,643 due to the United States government.

Seo's sentencing is scheduled for May 14.

Iowa Child Predator Sentenced

An Iowa man was sentenced Thursday, January 31, 2013, to 20 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving images of child pornography and transmitting obscene material to a minor under the age of 16 years old. 

The sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jupiter Police Department.

According to court documents, Eric Runyan, 31, of Earlham, Iowa, used an online social networking application to contact and initiate a chat with a 9-year-old girl in Jupiter, Fla.

Runyan, using his screen name Hard_n_big2000, asked the victim, "How old u?"
The 9-year-old immediately responded, "10 … Leave me alone."

Runyan continued to chat with the victim and sent the child a picture of his genitals. He then proceeded to ask the 9-year-old to take and transmit sexually explicit images of herself, which she did. When the 9-year-old tried to end the conversation, Runyan sent her threatening text messages, saying that he would ruin the 9-year-old's iPhone. He also threatened to find and kill her.

When the 9-year-old reported the incident to her parents, Jupiter Police Department detectives and HSI special agents were able to determine that the communications originated from Runyan's home.

Runyan was arrested and confessed to his involvement in the crime. He stated that he used his iPod Touch to communicate with the 9-year-old victim, transmit the images of himself to her and receive the sexually explicit images of the child.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.

Texas Resident Extradited from Mexico for Defense Articles Smuggling

An Eagle Pass, Texas, man appeared Monday, February 4, 2013, in San Antonio federal court following his extradition from Mexico Friday, February 1, 2013, on federal charges of smuggling prohibited defense articles.

This extradition and criminal charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman, Western District of Texas, and Deputy Special Agent in Charge Monica Mapel, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Antonio.

A federal grand jury in Del Rio returned an indictment in June 2012 against Erik Alan Garza, 25, on six counts of aiding and abetting smuggling goods from the United States. According to the indictment, on various occasions between June 19, 2010 and Feb. 17, 2012, Garza and an accomplice, Rolando Tamayo, 32, also of Eagle Pass, illegally attempted to smuggle defense articles into Mexico from the United States.

These defense items included: night-vision monocular goggles, a thermal goggle, 400 sets of AR-15 front and rear flip-up tactical sights, about 5,000 high-capacity assault rifle magazines, and about 6,000 rounds of ammunition, including 100 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition.

The indictment also charges Tamayo, who remains a fugitive, with two counts of aiding and abetting the smuggling of goods from the United States. Each charge calls for a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison upon conviction.

"Gun and drug trafficking fuels violence by criminal organizations, and threatens the security of the people along our borders and throughout the country," said Mapel. "HSI special agents will continue to work jointly with our law enforcement partners to utilize our expertise in import and export enforcement to help keep our citizens safe and secure."

This case was investigated by special agents with HSI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Marshals Service assisted with Garza's extradition.

An indictment is merely a charge, and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Galdo, Western District of Texas, prosecuted the case. 

Vietnamese Illegal Alien Pleads Guilty to Credit Card Fraud Conspiracy

Tri Tran, aka Tony, 35, a citizen of Vietnam unlawfully in the country and residing in Maryland, pleaded guilty Friday, February 1, 2013, to mail fraud in connection with a scheme to skim credit card account data and re-encode the data onto different credit cards used to buy merchandise at retail stores. As a result of the scheme, more than 50 victims incurred losses totaling more than $70,000.

The guilty plea follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore; U.S. Secret Service, Baltimore Field Office; Harford County Sheriff's Office and the assistance of the Harford County State's Attorney Office.

According to his plea, beginning in 2009 through Feb. 28, 2011, co-conspirator Nghia Nguyen, 35, a Vietnamese citizen residing in Santa Ana, Calif., mailed an electronic skimming device to Tran in Maryland, who used the device at the business where he was employed to access data from customer credit cards. During 2009, Tran mailed Nguyen the skimming device approximately twice a month, typically when the data of five to 15 credit cards were stored on the skimmer. This pace picked up slightly in 2010 and in 2011 there were about four or five exchanges prior to his arrest. Tran would also mail several credit cards bearing his name to Nguyen.

Nguyen would then extract the data from the skimmer and re-encode the magnetic strip of the other cards with the victims' data. Nguyen would then send Tran three or four re-encoded cards in return, and Tran would use these cards, typically for one or two transactions at about $200 per transaction before the accounts were shut down. This process was repeated several times over the course of the scheme.

On Jan. 14, 2011, the Harford County Sheriff's Office began investigating a complaint related to credit card skimming activity at the retail location where Tran worked. On Feb. 28, 2011, Tran's residence was searched and HSI special agents seized computer equipment and peripheral devices used in the creation of the fraudulent credit cards.

Tran faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for mail fraud at his May 24 sentencing before U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar.

Nguyen previously pleaded guilty to his participation in the scheme and was sentenced Dec. 17, 2012, to six years in prison.

Today's announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was created November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys' offices and state and local partners, it's the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. 

Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

HSI Orange County, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Postal Inspection Service in California, City of Orange Police Department, Costa Mesa Police Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California assisted in the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Judson T. Mihok.

Virginia Korean Gang Leader Sentenced to 210 Months for Extortion, Violence, and Organized Crime

Han Sa Yu, 44, a resident of Maryland who is originally from South Korea, was sentenced Friday, February 1, 2013, to 210 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for extorting Korean businesses operating in Annandale, Va. Yu also agreed to pay more than $98,000 in restitution to the victims of his extortion. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. and assisted by the Fairfax County Police Department.

Yu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion on Nov. 9, 2012, and was sentenced Friday, February 1, 2013. Yu founded the Korean Night Breeders (KNB) to carry out extortions of various businesses in Annandale. The KNB targeted businesses owned by persons of Korean descent and frequently sought out businesses that employed illegal aliens.

"HSI (Washington, D.C.) is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to combat violent gangs who prey upon those in our communities," said Special Agent In Charge John P. Torres. "Today's sentencing of Yu sends a message that extortion, especially under the threat of violence, will not be tolerated. HSI (Washington, D.C.) will continue to identify, investigate and dismantle gangs who are a threat to public safety."

The KNB also sought out Korean taxi drivers, karaoke bars, restaurants and billiard halls to extort cash. Many business owners were assaulted and others threatened in an effort to instill fear in their victims.

The gang members frequently would dress in black suits, which became their recognized uniform. They would surround an extortion victim to further instill fear and implicitly threaten victims. From one victim alone KNB extorted more than $30,000. Various restaurants in Annandale either paid extortion or provided free food and drink to the gang.

Yu, also known as "Thunder" and "Bungay," modeled the gang after Asian organized crime syndicates. He sometimes would hold weekly meetings where the gang would discuss potential victims, and Yu would teach fighting techniques and his extortion protocol. The size of the gang varied over time, but at times had 15 or more members. Yu and his gang used the extortion proceeds to purchase marijuana and cocaine, among other things.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Frank and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc J. Birnbaum prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

This investigation was part of HSI's Operation Community Shield initiative. Operation Community Shield partners with existing federal, state and local anti-gang efforts to identify violent street gangs and develop intelligence on gang members and associates, gang criminal activities and international movements to arrest, prosecute, imprison and, or deport transnational gang members. HSI's National Gang Unit's goal is to deter, disrupt and dismantle gang operations by tracing and seizing cash, weapons and other assets derived from criminal activities.

Since the inception of Operation Community Shield in February 2005, HSI special agents working in conjunction with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide have arrested more than 29,366 street gang members and associates linked to more than 2,300 different gangs. At least 40 percent of those arrested had a violent criminal history. More than 374 of those arrested were gang leaders. Through this initiative nationally, HSI has seized 4,137 firearms.