SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — On Aug. 15, Melanie Cruz Clivilles was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Maria Antongiorgi-Jordan to 48 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for making false statements to a task force officer of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in relation to a criminal investigation.
Cruz Clivilles is the mother of 13-year-old girl who died of a drug overdose in August 2023 and had been brought by 26-year-old Bryan Xavier Perez Hernandez to the hospital. Perez Hernandez was charged with production of child exploitation material and drug trafficking in relation to the deceased minor.
According to court documents, Perez Hernandez attempted to induce, entice and coerce the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child exploitation material. Perez Hernandez was also charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine to a minor. Perez Hernandez pleaded guilty on April 18, 2024, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 20.
Cruz Clivilles was charged with lying to a federal law enforcement agent. Cruz Clivilles made a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement and representation by falsely stating to an HSI agent that she first met Perez Hernandez at the hospital on Aug. 4, 2023, where he arrived with defendant’s deceased daughter. The statement and representation were false because, as she then and there knew, she had met Perez Hernandez at the latest in July 2023 and had been with him during a meeting on Aug. 3, 2023.
HSI San Juan Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Gonzalez-Ramos and U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico W. Stephen Muldrow made the announcement. HSI and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenifer Hernandez Vega, chief of the Child Exploitation and Immigration Unit, prosecuted the case.
For more information about HSI’s efforts to protect children from sexual predators, visit Project iGuardian. To report suspicious activity, call 787-729-6969.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce consists of over 10,000 employees, assigned to 235 offices within the United States and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.