News Releases and Statements

Keith Monroe Wallace, 53, of Eureka, pleaded guilty June 24 to possession of child pornography. According to the plea agreement, the defendant admitted possessing more than 600 images of prepubescent minors, or minors under the age of 12, engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Jason B. Scarcello, 45, of Anderson, appeared before U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley. According to court documents, between April and June 2012, Scarcello used a file-sharing program to download multiple movies depicting the sexual exploitation of children. Scarcello was arrested July 25, 2012, after agents executed a federal search warrant at his residence and discovered CDs and DVDs containing sexually explicit images and videos of children.

Carl McBride, age 50, of Claymont, Delaware, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years, in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of at least five years to life following his prison sentence.

David Albert, 50, of Springfield, pleaded guilty March 11 to sexually exploiting a child to produce child pornography.

Lawrence Joynes, 56, of Dundalk, Maryland, sexually abused 14 children in kindergarten through second grade in his classroom at the New Hampshire Estates Elementary school in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he was a music teacher.

Ernest Garza Reyes, 32, of Madera, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. According to court documents, from July 2, 2011, through Dec. 1, 2011, Reyes sent and received over 200 email messages containing more than 2,800 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images also involved the portrayal of sadistic and masochistic violence, and included depictions of prepubescent minors. Reyes was charged with receiving or distributing child pornography on May 9, 2013, and pleaded guilty to this charge on Sept. 8, 2014.

Bassam Arif Al Zarkani, 33, of Dumas, Texas, has been in custody since his arrest in April.

Calvin Nesmith, 28, of Rockport, was arrested Sept. 4 upon filing of the criminal complaint. He is expected to make his initial appearance the same day before U.S. Magistrate Judge B. Janice Ellington.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen sentenced David Woods, 38, of Corfu, New York, following a May 22 hearing, in which Woods pleaded guilty to the crime.

Nelson Santiago-Colon, 49, former pastor of the Peniel Christian Church located in Santa Isabel, was sentenced to 40 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release. Hilton Rios-Rivera, 51, of San Sebastian, was sentenced to 18 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release. Roberto Quiles-Ayala, of Cidra, was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Ruben James Rios, from San Juan, Texas, who remains in custody, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography.

Keith Dwayne Marks Jr., 20, pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to producing child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorn. Marks was indicted by a federal grand jury June 4.

Leon Lussier, 49, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was arrested Sept. 1 and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl the same day. Lussier was employed by the Bowling Green Independent School District as a substitute teacher.

Robert Ferraro, 45, previously pleaded guilty in May 2015 to using and persuading a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing images. Between August 2013 and January 2015 Ferraro admitted to sexually abusing a 6-year-old child, videotaping the abuse, and uploading the video to the internet.

After sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis remanded Charles Coci, 26, of Abilene, Texas, who had been released on bond, into the custody of the U.S. Marshal.

Sean Mooney served as a senior airman stationed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, when he was arrested by HSI special agents with assistance from OSI officials in January 2014 for charges of enticing a minor and transporting child pornography.

Javier Carlos Arteta Franco, 57, has been in custody since Aug. 19 when HSI special agents based in Alpine, Texas, arrested him at his apartment in Fort Stockton, Texas.

Christina Cortez, 38, of Corpus Christi, allegedly produced child pornography while working at a day care facility in Corpus Christi. She further distributed them to Matthew Harbin, 29, of Brownsville, Texas, who was also indicted. The indictment charges both with producing child pornography.

At trial, the government presented evidence that, on three occasions in September, October and November 2013, Charles Heath Stewart, 42, of Grand Ridge, knowingly enticed a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction. Additionally, evidence presented at trial showed that Stewart knowingly possessed pornographic images of children.

Mark Anthony Pape, 24, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to 40 years in federal prison.

Claude L. Merced-Aponte, 49, was arrested without incident at his place of residence in Aguas Buenas.

According to documents filed in this case, beginning in March 2014 and continuing to about mid-December 2014, Jose Angel Zapata, 24, of San Angelo, Texas, engaged in a relationship with “Jane Doe 2.” He used Facebook chat, in which he knowingly attempted to persuade, induce and entice Jane Doe 2 to have sex with him.

Edmundo Cardenas, 23, a U.S. permanent resident from Mexico, and Luis Pena-Rios, 45, a Mexican national, both residing in Laredo, were sentenced in separate cases for possessing child pornography.

Armia Alber, 29, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to distributing images of child pornography over the Internet.

Jimmy Cantelmo, 26, admitted to conspiring with his brother, Sean Cantelmo, and others to persuade a minor to engage in prostitution from February through August 2014.