News Releases and Statements

Jaime Gerardo Gonzalez, 26, from Laredo, Texas, pleaded guilty Aug. 8 to receiving child pornography. U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo accepted his guilty plea and set sentencing for Dec. 6.  Gonzalez faces a minimum of five and up to 20 years in federal prison, as well as a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

Brandi Leonard, 20, of Colorado Springs, was sentenced last week by to 20 years in federal prison for producing child pornography while sexually abusing an infant.

HSI special agents arrested Jaime Emmanuel Cano-Olmeda, 27, of Toa Baja, following an investigation that stemmed from a forensic analysis of a smartphone seized during the execution of a state search warrant in the residence of a New Jersey man on Jan. 13. A search of the device revealed the presence of a chat between the owner of the telephone and a man later identified as Cano-Olmeda.

Curtis Audun Larssen, 33, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero to 210 months in prison. Larssen pleaded guilty in June 2017 to one count of using the internet to induce a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Once he completes his prison sentence, Larssen will be on supervised release for the rest of his life.

Jeremy David Mount, 41, of Hutchinson, Minnesota, pleaded guilty Feb. 9, 2017, to one count of receiving and one count of producing child pornography.  He was sentenced to 262 months in prison on July 27 before U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson.  He was also sentenced to 20 years of supervised release.

Jonathan Andrew Hydro, 59, of Abilene, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to pay $5,000 in restitution.  He has been in custody since his arrest in February 2017.  Hydro pleaded guilty in April 2017 to one count of receiving visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Ben Culbertson, 56, of Nevada, Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 262 months in federal prison without parole. Culbertson had been detained in federal custody since his arrest in October 2016.  Culbertson pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography via the internet on March 22, 2017.

Samir Wadi, (44), of Sedona, was sentenced July 19, by an Arizona Superior Court Judge following a bench trial who handed a guilty verdict of 12 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor under the age of 15, making each charged count a class two felony.

According to the March 2 plea agreement, Jesus Nieto, 20, used social media sites to communicate with the minor girls, ages 11 and 15, for the purpose of soliciting sexually explicit pictures. He also persuaded and coerced the girls into engaging in sexual intercourse with him.

Brandon K. Phelps, 33, was the subject of a combined investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Seattle Police Department in its role as operator of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.

The operation, which took place July 5-10, was the result of a probe by the Washington State Patrol’s (WSP) Missing and Exploited Children Task Force (MECTF) including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Todd Darren Rickdal, 50, of Seattle, first came to the attention of special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) after he responded to a Seattle Police Department Craigslist ad during a 2016 sting operation.

Robert Dion Ables, 40, of Hutchins, Texas, has been in custody since his arrest in December 2016 on a related federal criminal complaint.  In March 2017, Ables pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography and two counts of producing child pornography.

Issac Gonzalez, 62, from Los Fresnos, Texas, appeared before U.S. District Judge, Rolando Olvera who ordered Gonzalez to serve 78 months in prison July 5 to include a life time of supervised release. Judge Olvera also ordered Gonzalez to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet, to include registering as a sex offender for life. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the charges April 4.

Aaron Turk, 31, of Yuma, who provided babysitting services at the residence he shared with his girlfriend, was re-arrested Thursday morning by HSI special agents after a forensic examination of his electronic devices revealed more than 500 images of child pornography.

Brandon Quinn Vasquez, 31, of Phoenix, was taken into custody June 20 by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jake Nicholas Luera, 31, from Webster, Texas, came to the attention of law enforcement following an investigation dubbed “Operation Back to School” in August 2015 that targeted predators who solicit minors online. During the operation, Luera engaged in online chats with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old female and drove to a location where he believed he would make sexual contact with her.

Christopher George White, 38, of McCormick, South Carolina, must also serve a lifetime of supervised release for his conviction on six counts of coercing and enticing a minor.

The men, who were texting with undercover agents up until their arrests, were taken into custody June 22 by authorities at a hotel in Prescott. The defendants allegedly knew the “prostitutes” were minors, but still intended to exploit them through paid sex acts.

Michael Dameon Blackburn, 31, was also ordered to pay $430,800 in restitution to the two children who were victims of his criminal conduct; he must register as a sex offender if he is ever released from prison.

Donovan Soto, 54, of Ewa Beach, was previously convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography. The material recovered during the investigation included more than 94 movie files, 58 of which depicted children under the age of 12.

Anthony Robert Korwin, of Vista, was taken into custody June 5 during an undercover operation conducted by the Imperial Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (IV-ICAC). The probe was initiated by the Task Force in response to a Craigslist ad posted online.

Howard William Halverson, from South Padre Island, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography Nov. 29, 2016.

HSI special agents arrested Gabriel Cañas-Guerrero, 23, of Ponce and Victor Gadiel Reyes-Rodriguez, 31, of Orocovis, for possession of images depicting actual minors engaging in sexually illicit conduct while Christian Joel Lorenzo-Feliciano, 22, of Aguada, was arrested for distribution and possession of child pornography. According to the indictment, Lorenzo Feliciano used a file-sharing computer program with access to the Internet to distribute visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually illicit conduct. Likewise, HSI special agents arrested Angel Luis Sepulveda-Ramos, 45, of Lajas and Martin Suarez-Imbert, 42, of Carolina, for advertising child pornography. Sepulveda-Ramos was also charged with transportation of child pornography. The indictment alleges that he used the Ares peer-to-peer software to share child pornography and that he transported such contraband. Two other defendants, Vidal Berrios-Davila, 65, of Cataño and Francisco Javier Alicea-Baez, were arrested for receipt and distribution of child pornography.