A 27-year-old Brownsville man has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison after nearly 1,500 images of child pornography was found in his possession.
During his sentencing hearing, Alvaro Vega-Rodriguez was ordered to stay away from child exploitation websites and groups such as the North American Man-Boy Lover Association.
Vega-Rodriguez entered a cold plea to the child pornography charged on Feb. 4, 2020.
Vega-Rodriguez appeared before U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera Jr. Wednesday, for his sentencing. After serving the 78 year prison sentence, he will have 20 years of supervised release and will have to register as a sex offender, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas stated in a media release.
According to a criminal complaint, on May 5, 2019, special agents of the Homeland Security Investigations led the Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Investigation Tax Force to a Brownsville IP address that contained images and video files of child pornography.
On June 4, 2019, the agents executed a search warrant at the Brownsville location which is Vega-Rodriguez’s home.
The complaint states that during an interview, Vega-Rodriguez admitted he used his Apple Macbook Pro to search and receive child pornography videos and images. An initial search of the MacBook led to the discovery of 766 images and 58 videos of child pornography.
Vega-Rodriguez is out on bond and will voluntarily surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to be determined in the near future.
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Brownsville man sentenced for possessing pornographic images of children
