News Releases and Statements

Gary Samuel Cochran, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson under a plea agreement reached last year. Cochran pleaded guilty in September 2011 to one count of production of child pornography, a charge that carries a mandatory minimum of 25 years in federal prison.

Bryan Ross Spears, 39, of Palm Coast, Fla., pleaded guilty on Sept. 15 to receiving child pornography over the Internet. After the sentencing hearing, Spears was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to await designation to a federal prison.

Nicholas Brown, 24, was indicted for possessing child pornography on Aug. 24, 2011. On Monday, Brown stipulated that he possessed more than 100 videos of child pornography.

Mark Porter of Bethany, Conn. waived his right to indictment and has pleaded guilty to one count of accessing child pornography. The guilty plea is the result of an investigation conducted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Probation Office for the District of Connecticut.

Joshua Gardner, 29, admitted that sometime between September 1997 and May 2002, he sexually abused two boys under the age of 12 on Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. Kadena is a U.S. Air Force base under the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. At the time of the offenses, Gardner also resided in Okinawa.

Scott Allan Herrick, 40, of Twin Lakes, Mich., surreptitiously videotaped boys as they were dressing in the boys' locker room in the YMCA in Muskegon, Mich., where Herrick was a swim instructor. He also kept a massive collection of 100,000 images of child pornography with him at the Gerber Boy Scouts Camp in Twin Lakes.

Phillip Beyel, 27, of Cocoa Beach, Fla., allegedly had sexual intercourse with a child for a period of several months, while that child was 12 and 13 years old. During that time, Beyel used a cell phone to take videos of himself engaging in those sexual acts with the minor victim. He was arrested on Jan. 2 on state charges for lewd and lascivious conduct.

Timothy Sorrell, 63, of Panama City, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 15 and charged with distribution and receipt of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to the charges on Aug. 17.

Leonard Wasylyk of Wilmington, Del. was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for production and transportation of child pornography. Forensic analysis of Wasylyk's computer revealed that Wasylyk distributed sexually explicit images of a child that he produced to other child sex offenders while bragging about having molested the boy.

Russell Gardner of Erie, Pa. pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possession of child pornography, following an investigation by ICE's HSI and the FBI. During the forensic review of Gardner's computer after his November 2009 arrest, agents discovered images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Xavier Degollado, 31, of McAllen, Texas, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez on Jan. 3. By pleading guilty to receiving child pornography, Degollado acknowledged that he had downloaded child pornography and was aware that it was illegal to do so.

Todd Evans, 27, of St. Clair, Pa., used a computer to download and distribute images of child pornography between October 2011 and Dec. 7, 2011.

U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings ordered that Lee Lewis, 50, of Slaton, Texas, surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Jan. 26. Lewis is a former officer with the Slaton Police Department. U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas announced the sentence.

A Central Colorado man was sentenced Wednesday to 5 1/2 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for possessing child pornography. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted the seven-month investigation.

Yusef Alhakk, aka Joseph Daniels of Buffalo, N.Y., who was an ICE top ten most wanted fugitive before his capture on Dec. 30, 2010, was convicted for receipt of child pornography and sentenced to 120 months in prison. The sentence is the result of an investigation led by ICE's HSI.

A federal grand jury in Buffalo has returned a nine-count indictment charging Roger S. "Scotti" Luczkowiak with production of child pornography, distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography. A forensic analysis of his computer found two videos that appeared to be produced by the defendant at his home with a six-year-old victim.

Andrew Hitas of Palm Coast, Fla., pleaded guilty to a federal charge of receiving child pornography over the Internet, following an investigation by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. One of Hitas' computers contained 3,904 images and 514 videos.

Bryan Martin was ordered held without bond on charges of online coercion and enticing a child.

Diego Mata Sanchez, who was wanted in his native country of Costa Rica for raping a 3-year-old child a decade ago, is facing deportation following his capture Friday night by the U.S. Marshals and agents from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Julian Gonzalez, 31, from Mission, Texas, was sentenced Dec. 19 by U.S. District Judge Randy Crane to 91 months in federal prison.

ICE's Office of International Affairs and its Cyber Crimes Center developed a 40-hour First Responder Computer Forensics Training course.

Raymond Dean Smith, a 42-year-old resident of Helena, Mont., was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in federal prison after he had pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting children.

Terrence John McGovern, Jr., 62, formerly of Burlingame, Calif., was taken into custody Thursday night by agents with ICE's HSI at LAX as he stepped off a commercial flight arriving from Mexico City.

A federal grand jury in Lubbock, Texas, returned a three-count indictment Wednesday charging Charles Linwood Heard with various federal child sexual exploitation offenses. Heard attempted to entice an individual via text message and email whom he believed to be an under-age boy. It was actually an undercover law enforcement officer.

Lawrence Ellrick, 35, of Ft. Leonard Wood, pleaded guilty Dec. 15 before U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr to the charge contained in a Sept. 28 federal indictment. Ellrick remains in federal custody pending a sentencing hearing.