News Releases and Statements

Christopher Halligan, 47, of Emerado, North Dakota, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison based on his conviction on one count of receiving and three counts of possessing child pornography. Emerado is a small town near the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Daniel Fredrick Heidemann, 42, was sentenced to 200 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos.

Thomas Robert Kernohan, 35, pleaded guilty in October to receiving and distributing child pornography. According to court documents, an HSI undercover investigation revealed that during a nine-month period beginning in February 2013, Kernohan was identified as an online trader in child pornography through a foreign file-sharing website.

According to plea documents filed in the case, John Everette Murdock, of Lubbock, Texas, used a computer to access, with intent to view, various images of child pornography. He used file-sharing software to search for material that was likely to result in his access to child pornography, which he viewed and then deleted.

Michael Thomas Franks, 44, of Brownwood, Texas, was remanded into custody.

Juan Hernandez, 46, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. He must also register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

Tucker J. Newman, 48, of Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography. In his plea he admitted he sent child pornography to an undercover investigator in California.

Daniel L. Bonnett, 40, of Sacramento, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez. According to court documents, between Jan. 27, 2013, and Feb. 14, 2013, Bonnett sent and received images depicting the sexual exploitation of children over peer-to-peer file sharing networks and by using other Internet applications.

John Thomas Matthew Lee, 50, of Millsboro, Delaware, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Leonard P. Stark of the District of Delaware.

Justin Kinney, 26, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to an indictment charging him with two counts of producing child pornography.

Alexis Gabriel Rodriguez-Rivera, 26, was arrested at his place of residence in Bayamon following a federal search warrant that revealed the presence of child pornography in his computer. On Nov. 10, an HSI digital forensic agent conducted a preliminary forensic examination on Rodriguez-Rivera’s computer. The forensic examination revealed several videos of female minors of apparently five to 11 years of age engaging in sexually explicit conduct with what appeared to be adult males.

Salvador Lopez, 37, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced on one count of enticing a child to engage in sexually explicit activity. His prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release. He previously pleaded guilty Aug. 21 to the enticement charge.

Steven Seth Hansen, 36, who has a previous federal conviction for use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor, must also register as a sex offender, pay restitution in the case, and forfeit a phone and tablet.

New technologies giving HSI special agents the tools to identify more victims, faster than ever before.

Michael David Wilson, 32, of Delano, was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. According to court documents, between September 2012 and April 2013, Wilson received and distributed more than 1,400 images and video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Mark A. Wireman, 44, from Lakin, Kansas, had previously pleaded guilty in July to five federal counts of distributing child pornography.

Normann Pittelkow, 42, and Nicole Jacob, 35, were the latest fugitives to be profiled late last week on the ICE Operation Predator smartphone app, seeking public tips about at-large and unknown child predator suspects. The suspects are the targets of a federal investigation being led by ICE’s HSI.

Nathan Penner, 25, of Yuba City, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley of the Eastern District of California to one count of production of child pornography. The sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 21, 2016.

According to court documents, Oct. 27, 2014, an agent with HSI conducted an online investigation into individuals who were using peer-to-peer software to share child pornography files. The agent connected with a computer belonging to Michael Eugene Read, 60, of Naples, and downloaded four videos depicting child pornography.

The jury convicted Brady Rodriguez-Cruz, aka Marcos Antonio Rodriguez-Mejia, 33, from Irving, Texas, on one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children. Rodriguez-Cruz also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing counterfeit documents. On Oct. 22, Luis Rivera, 19, also of Irving, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children.

According to the statement of facts, on Nov. 10, 2014, Richard Midgett, 50, used a peer-to-peer file-sharing network to distribute a computer file depicting child pornography.

Shane Perry Anderson, 25, pleaded guilty Sept. 21 to state charges of viewing and possessing child pornography. According to court documents, beginning in August 2013, HSI’s Cyber Crimes Center began investigating an individual with the username “Spapeoria” who was commenting on a free file sharing website.

According to court records, Robert Earl Rice, 48, of Neptune Beach, used his email address to trade and receive videos of child pornography. He admitted to viewing and collecting child pornography from 2012 until April 2014, and he also admitted to using search terms to find child pornography on the Internet. Rice pleaded guilty June 24, 2015.

James Peyton Busbee Jr., 30, from Victoria, Texas, pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey; sentencing is set for Feb. 1. At that time, Busbee faces a minimum of 15 and up to 30 years in federal prison.

A jury deliberated for more than three hours Oct. 30 before returning guilty verdicts against Marcus B. Fifer, 44, for producing child pornography.