U.S. Marshals Arrest Man Wanted in Connection to Parkersburg Murder

Huntington, WV – Today, the U.S. Marshal's Great Lakes Regional Task Force arrested James Brandjes for murder charges out of Parkersburg, WV. The Great Lakes Task Force was provided information that Brandjes was in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago by Deputy U.S. Marshals in Charleston, WV.

Brandjes, 30, is accused of beating a man to death in the victim’s home in Parkersburg. It is alleged the assault took place in a fit of rage over an unconfirmed domestic dispute. Branjes is reported to have a history of domestic violence.

Brandjes was arrested without incident near the T.J. Maxx in Lincoln Park, Chicago. He is currently awaiting extradition to Parkersburg in order to face these charges.

The USMS worked jointly in this investigation with officers of the Parkersburg Police Department.

Colombian National Charged in North Dakota with Operating a Continuing Criminal Enterprise From Canadian Prison

Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers for the District of North Dakota announced today that on July 17, 2015, Daniel Vivas Ceron, 34, of  Colombia, North Dakota, was taken into custody in Panama City, Panama, in connection with an indictment from the District of North Dakota charging him with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and controlled substance analogues resulting in serious bodily injury and death, conspiracy to import controlled substances and controlled substance analogues in to the United States resulting in serious bodily injury and death, aiding and abetting the distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, money laundering conspiracy and continuing criminal enterprise.

Ceron appeared in a Panamanian court on July 20, 2015, and is awaiting extradition to the United States.

The arrest comes as part of “Operation Denial,” an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation into the international trafficking of fentanyl and other lethal drugs and was significantly aided by the national and international coordination led by the Special Operations Division (S.O.D.), which is a multi-agency near Washington D.C., as part of “Operation Deadly Merchant.”  The investigation started in North Dakota on Jan. 3, 2015, with the overdose death of Bailey Henke, 18, of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The indictment alleges Ceron operated a continuing criminal enterprise while imprisoned in Canada that moved fentanyl and other similar substances from Canada and China into the United States and that those drugs resulted in serious bodily injury and death.  If convicted, Ceron faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

“The cooperation of law enforcement in North Dakota, Oregon, Florida and Canada has been exemplary in this case – these agencies worked tirelessly as one unit to target, identify and dismantle this organization in an effort to prevent additional deaths,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chris Myers.  “The fact that in just a few months this law enforcement team has been able to take this investigation from Grand Forks, across the United States and into Canada is a tribute to the dedication of these agents to public safety in both the United States and Canada.”

“The illegal distribution of fentanyl, as the number of drug overdoses tied to this investigation show, has wreaked havoc across the country,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams for the District of Oregon.  “National problems such as this require a coordinated national response – and that is exactly what our offices have done to hold the perpetrators of this destruction accountable.”

Additional defendants charged in federal court as part of this investigation include:

District of North Dakota

    Jameson Robert Sele, 20, Grand Forks, North Dakota, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and was sentenced on July 27, 2015, to 36 months imprisonment.

    

    Ryan Jon Jensen, 20, Grand Forks, North Dakota, pleaded guilty on Feb. 27, 2015, to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death; two counts of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury and money laundering conspiracy.  Currently awaiting sentencing.

    

    David Todd Noye Jr., 18, Grand Forks, North Dakota, pleaded guilty on May 4, 2015, to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.  Currently awaiting sentencing.

    

    Joshua Tyler Fulp, 20, Grand Forks, North Dakota, pleaded guilty on June, 23, 2015 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death and money laundering conspiracy.  Currently awaiting sentencing.

    

    Kain Daniel Schwandt, 19, Grand Forks, North Dakota pleaded guilty on July 24, 2015, to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.  Currently awaiting sentencing.

    

    Brandon Corde Hubbard, 40, Portland, Oregon was indicted for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death, distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and money laundering conspiracy. Trial is currently set for Sept. 15, 2015.

District of  Oregon

    Steven Fairbanks Locke with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.Trial set for Sept. 15, 2015.

    Channing Lacey with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury, distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.Trial set for Sept. 22, 2015.

    Carissa Marie Laprall with three counts of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in serious bodily injury and possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.Trial set for Sept. 22, 2015.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Portland Police Bureau – Drugs and Vice Division, Portland HIDTA Interdiction Task Force, Oregon State Police, the Grand Forks Police Department and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.

Acting U.S. Attorney Myers and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Schneider are prosecuting the cases in North Dakota; Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin is prosecuting the cases in the District of Oregon and will be assisting as a Special Assistant U.S Attorney in North Dakota as the investigation moves forward.

An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

U.S. Marshals Conduct Extradition of Federal Fugitive From Spain

San Juan, PR – A federal fugitive was extradited from Spain on Friday after being seven years evading justice. Angelo Guevara-Ramon has been a fugitive from justice since 2005, when a federal grand jury returned an indictment for alleged cocaine and heroin importation to the United States from St. Marteen, Netherlands Antilles and St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. Angelo Guevara-Ramon was arrested by the Spanish National police based on an Interpol notice in Madrid, Spain on May 3, 2012. The fugitive was extradited by U.S. Marshals to San Juan, PR to face charges in connection with that crime.

Angelo Guevara-Ramon was allegedly arrested through a combined effort by federal law enforcement and international law enforcement.

“This was an excellent example of international law enforcement cooperation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the persistence of the U.S. Marshal Service to track down federal fugitives where ever they hide, and bring them to justice” said Orlando Rivera, U.S. Marshal for the District of Puerto Rico.

The U.S. Marshals Service assumes custody of individuals arrested by all federal agencies and is responsible for the housing and transportation from the time they are brought into federal custody until they are either acquitted or incarcerated.

Annually, U.S. Marshals arrest more than 50 percent of all federal fugitives and serve more federal warrants than all other federal enforcement agencies combined. Last year, the U.S. Marshals Service cleared 36,304 fugitive warrants.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.

Eduardo Arellano-Felix Extradited from Mexico to the United States to Face Charges

Key Advisor to the Arellano-Felix Organization’s Leadership

WASHINGTON—Eduardo Arellano-Felix, 55, one of the alleged members of the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO), was extradited today by the government of Mexico to the United States to face racketeering, money laundering, and narcotics trafficking charges in the Southern District of California.

The extradition was announced by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Laura E. Duffy and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. Arellano-Felix was arrested by Mexican authorities in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on October 25, 2008, following a gun battle with a Mexican Special Tactical Team. A final order of extradition to the United States was granted in 2010. After two years of unsuccessful appeals, Arellano-Felix arrived in the United States this afternoon. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, in U.S. District Court in San Diego before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Lynn Major.

U.S. Attorney Duffy, whose office secured the indictment against Arellano-Felix, said, “This extradition is a significant step in our effort to bring another key figure in the Arellano-Felix Organization to answer, in an American court of law, to very serious charges. We are grateful to the government of Mexico for its assistance in the extradition.”

“Today’s extradition is a milestone in our fight against the Mexican drug cartels. I want to thank the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs for its tireless work in helping to ensure that Eduardo Arellano-Felix and numerous of his alleged co-conspirators face justice in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

“The extradition of Eduardo Arellano-Felix today marks the end of a 20-year DEA investigation into this vicious drug cartel,” said William R . Sherman, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the San Diego Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “This extradition illustrates that DEA and all its law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue these drug traffickers until they are brought to justice.”

San Diego FBI Special Agent in Charge Daphne Hearn said, “The FBI is pleased with Mexico’s efforts to bring to justice a leader from one of the most violent criminal enterprises in our history. The spirit of cooperation between our two countries is a powerful force in disrupting the criminal activities of these groups that instill fear and threaten the safety of our citizens in the border regions of the United States.”

Long-reputed to be one of the most notorious multi-national drug trafficking organizations, the AFO controlled the flow of cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs through the Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali into the United States. Its operations also extended into southern Mexico as well as Colombia.

The seventh superseding indictment charges Arellano-Felix with conducting the affairs of an illegal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity (RICO), conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana, as well as money laundering. The indictment alleges that the leadership of the AFO negotiated directly with Colombian cocaine-trafficking organizations for the purchase of multi-ton shipments of cocaine, received those shipments by sea and by air, in Mexico, and then arranged for the smuggling of the cocaine into the United States and its further distribution throughout the U.S. The indictment also alleges that the proceeds of the AFO’s drug trafficking, estimated by law enforcement to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, were then smuggled back into Mexico.

Brothers and former leaders of the AFO, Benjamin Arellano-Felix and Francisco Javier Arellano‑Felix, are currently serving sentences in the United States following their convictions for racketeering, drug trafficking, and money laundering charges.

This case is being investigated by agents from the DEA, the FBI, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted in the Southern District of California by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Green, James Melendres and Dan Zipp. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in the extradition. The investigation of Arellano-Felix was coordinated by an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program was created to consolidate and coordinate all law enforcement resources in this country’s battle against major drug trafficking rings, drug kingpins, and money launderers.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence that the defendant committed the crimes charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.