Motion Center Toronto: Nov 24, 2010

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

North Texas man indicted on Federal child pornography charges

FORT WORTH, Texas - A man from Saginaw, Texas, was arraigned on Wednesday for allegedly receiving and possessing child pornography, as outlined in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury last week. These charges were announced by U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. The case is being investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Secret Service North Texas Electronic Crimes Task Force, and the Saginaw, Texas, Police Department.
Matthew J. Merideth, 33, has been in federal custody since his arrest in October 2010 on a related charge in a federal criminal complaint. His trial is set for Jan. 10 before U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means.
According to the complaint, in April 2010, the Saginaw Police Department responded to a residence in Saginaw regarding a report of possible sexual assault of a child. Upon arriving at the residence, officers interviewed Merideth. A few days later they executed a state search warrant for his computer. A preliminary forensic exam of the computer revealed that two child pornography videos had been recently downloaded from the Internet using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. The exam also revealed that numerous images of child pornography had been saved on his computer. According to the complaint, Merideth told investigators that he had used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to locate and download child pornography because he was attempting to hunt down individuals preying on children. Merideth, however, told investigators that he wasn't successful; nor did he report any of this activity to law enforcement.
If convicted Merideth faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than five or more than 20 years in prison for receiving child pornography, and no more than 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography, plus up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $500,000 fine.
This investigation is part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE 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.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

Gulf Coast BEST members seize sailing vessel with 4,500 pounds of marijuana; arrest 3 suspects

GULFPORT, Miss. - On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-led Gulf Coast Border Enforcement Security Taskforce (BEST) reported the arrest of three individuals and the seizure of a sailing vessel and approximately 4,500 pounds of marijuana on the Mississippi Sound south of Bay St. Louis, Miss.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Air and Marine assets located the sailing vessel, "Sarah Moira," an 80 foot steel hull sailboat sailing from the Caribbean into the Gulfport area. BEST assets maintained surveillance until it was boarded by BEST task force members. The task force members who participated in the operation included the ICE Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); CBP’s Air & Marine Operations, Office of Border Patrol, and Office of Field Operation; the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG); and the Harrison County (Mississippi) Sherriff’s Office. The boarding revealed two large wooden containers in the forward hold of the vessel containing contraband, weighing approximately 4,500 pounds. The three individuals aboard the vessel were taken into custody and the vessel was brought to the USCG Station in Gulfport, Miss., where the task force worked in a combined effort to offload the seized contraband.

"Sunday's arrests clearly show how the extensive cooperation of all members of the Gulf Coast BEST can bring to justice a criminal organization that was transporting illegal drugs into the United States," said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., special agent in charge of ICE HSI in New Orleans. "This organization was reaping profits by bringing these drugs into the country and distributing them to our communities. ICE and our BEST partners are dedicated to targeting and dismantling criminal organizations that endanger public safety."
The Gulf Coast BEST is a DHS initiative established in New Orleans, Gulfport and Mobile, Ala., that is designed as a multi-agency response to address national security and other law enforcement concerns affecting the Gulf Coast. It is comprised of ICE HSI, CBP, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Coast Guard, Internal Revenue Service, and several state and local law enforcement agencies from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. BEST members are co-located so that they can effectively share information. Close coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies helps to identify and eliminate cross-border criminal organizations such as alien and drug smuggling networks and the infrastructures that sustain them.
This seizure highlights the success of the Gulf Coast BEST and its commitment to identify, disrupt and dismantle dangerous transnational crime which threatens the United States.