South Texas man sentenced for possessing nearly 1,500 pornographic images of minors
BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A South Texas man was sentenced Wednesday to more than six years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation.
Alvaro Vega-Rodriguez, 27, from Brownsville, was sentenced June 23, in federal court to 78 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to serve 20 years of supervised release and comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. And he will have to register as a sex offender. Vega-Rodriguez pleaded guilty Feb. 4, 2020.
“These investigations serve as a reminder and warning to those who engage in perverse online behavior involving child exploitation,” said Deputy Special Agent in Charge Timothy Tubbs of HSI San Antonio. “This illegal activity will not be tolerated and those who are participating in it will be found and brought to justice.”
According to court documents, in May 2019, authorities launched an investigation targeting child pornography sharing on the internet. This led HSI to Vega-Rodriguez. The following month, they conducted a search at his residence and seized his computer. Forensic analysis on the computer later revealed 1,488 images and 121 videos of child pornography.
Vega-Rodriguez was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ana C. Cano and Jose A. Esquivel, Jr., of the Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.
HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. 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 of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 Special Agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 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.
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