Walter Wilkins, 24, of Weslaco, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for coercion and enticement of a minor Jan. 23 following an investigation conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Rio Grande Valley’s Child Exploitation Task Force. Wilkins pleaded guilty to producing child sexual abuse material involving a child under 16.
Erica Aracely Carmona, 36, was sentenced by a federal judge to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $955,350 for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens resulting in death. She was arrested Aug. 23, 2022, and pleaded guilty Dec. 19, 2022.
The Homeland Security Task Force in Jacksonville announced a multijurisdictional enforcement operation targeting a Chinese transnational criminal organization for marriage fraud. The organization recruited U.S. service members to participate in fraudulent marriages and enabled Chinese nationals to obtain immigration benefits and access cards for U.S. military installations.
ICE Philadelphia deployed surge teams to Martinsburg, Moorefield, Morgantown, Beckley, Huntington and Charleston as part of the operation.
Five of the 37 fugitives expelled from Mexico into the U.S. on Jan. 20 were subjects of an ICE Homeland Security Investigations probe into cells of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Following an ICE Homeland Security Investigations El Paso investigation, a local man was sentenced Jan. 28 to federal prison for his role in a cross-border tunnel smuggling conspiracy.
An investigation by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Dallas uncovered a nationwide counterfeit document scheme resulting in the federal sentencing of two Mexican nationals who produced and sold thousands of fake IDs.