News Releases and Statements

Emmett Winston Smith, a/k/a Everett Smith, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents following a lead from Canadian authorities. Smith, 66, was indicted by a federal grand jury March 24.

Rassie Cleveland Martin, 58, from Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings. Martin must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by May 15.

Damien Oasis Winn, 34, from Port Arthur, Texas, pleaded guilty Dec. 4, 2014 to possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 86 months in federal prison April 9 by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

As part of Operation Friend Zone, HSI special agents surreptitiously infiltrated peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks to identify users in Puerto Rico who sought to acquire or distribute known or suspected images and videos of children engaged in sexually explicit activities.

Joseph Lloyd White, 44, from Orange, Texas, pleaded guilty Dec. 4, 2014 to attempted sexual enticement of a child and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison April 9 by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

Ralph Freeman, 54, of Falls Church, was found guilty Jan. 2, following a bench trial that concluded in November 2014. According to court documents, Freeman used the eDonkey peer-to-peer network and Usenet Newsgroup to download child pornography.

Thomas Silber pleaded guilty Dec. 18, 2014, to knowingly receiving, and attempting to receive DVD movies depicting child pornography. Between February 2007 and October 2010, Silber received 10 DVD movies using the internet, which were shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce since they were produced by a company in Canada.

The indictment alleges that from January to March 2015, Edward C. Brown, 35, of Rantoul, distributed and possessed images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of computers and related materials allegedly used to commit or promote the offenses.

Charles Coci, 26, of Abilene, Texas, who is on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. Sentencing will be set at a later date.

In addition, Charles Franklin Hudson, Jr., 39, of Jacksonville was ordered to register as a sex offender, and to forfeit his electronic media.

Brian Franklin Howard, 37, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was arrested April 2 at Denver International Airport (DIA) by HSI and the Denver Police Department after he flew to Colorado to have sex with children.

According to court documents, between July 2012 and March 2014 Benjamin Cuadrado, 40, of Lakeland, coerced an infant and a toddler to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing multiple videos of the conduct.

Blake Robert Johnston, 41, of Martinez, was originally charged in October 2014 with traveling to another state with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.

Robert Vangorden, 41, of Omaha Nebraska, was sentenced to 17 years and 6 months (210 months) for distributing materials involving the sexual exploitation of a minor. Vangorden will also serve 10 years of supervised release following his incarceration. Additionally, he was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims' Fund and $5,000 in restitution.

Javier Guerrero Molina, 34, citizen of Mexico, was arrested May 30, 2014, at the Jacksonville International Airport.

Eric Sansburn, 30, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was sentenced to 305 months (25 years, 4 months) in federal prison on seven criminal charges. The charges included two counts of transporting minors to engage in sexual activity, three counts of coercion and enticement of a minor, and two counts of possession of child pornography.

Ronnie Cosby, 39, of Hammond, Indiana, is charged with one count of transporting a minor to engage in prostitution. Cosby appeared in court March 30 for his arraignment. Court records allege Cosby committed the crime in February, transporting the child from Indiana to Illinois.

As part of Project iGuardian, HSI special agents in San Juan organized the Internet safety outreach for kids 12 to 16 years old to provide them with the necessary tools to make smart decisions when navigating in the Internet. HSI San Juan made the massive event possible by soliciting support from both the public and private sector. Toa Baja Mayor Anibal Vega Borges and his team took care of all the logistics. The Puerto Rico Department of Education arranged for the transportation of students from schools in the Bayamon Education Region to the Antonio R. Barcelo Coliseum.

According to plea documents filed in the case, Eduardo Cantillo, from Lubbock, Texas, used a computer at his residence to search the Internet for images and videos of child pornography. In the course of those searches, Cantillo located, downloaded and viewed numerous images and videos constituting child pornography.

Eric Bing, 28, of Clark, was charged with enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity.

Michael Stratton, 32, from Cedar Hill, Texas, was ordered by U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons April 22.

According to the criminal complaint, Rene Roberge, 47, of Quebec, sent an email Oct. 9 to an undercover agent through a social networking site, in which he requested to meet with the agent and the agent’s 14-year-old son. Roberge chatted with the undercover agent and stated he would travel to Florida to meet them.

Robert J. Gongloff, 25, originally from Terra Alta, West Virginia, is alleged to have produced numerous images and videos depicting nude minors and minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Gongloff is also alleged to have misrepresented his name and age on a website known as MeetMe.com, claiming to be 17 years old and using the name “Johnny Williamson,” in order to transmit sexually explicit photographs to minor females.

Blaine K. Nipp, 37, of Vancouver, Washington, was arrested in January 2014 after investigators tied Nipp to a username distributing illicit images through an overseas photo sharing website, according to court documents. A search of Nipp’s electronic devices turned up photos of him abusing a 10-year-old girl.