After Homeland Security Investigation special agents executed a search warrant in Laguna Heights, two people are facing charges of child pornography possession and being an “illegal alien” in possession of firearms in separate cases.
Ramon Marin Jr., born in 1990, is charged with possession of child pornography while Ramon Marin-Abarca, born in 1967, is charged with being in the country illegally while having two firearms and 148 rounds of ammunition.
The criminal complaints against the men don’t mention whether they are related and don’t specify whether HSI searched one residence or two, as the address is redacted from the complaint against Marin and not included in the complaint against Marin-Abarca.
Both men were arrested Tuesday and made first appearances Wednesday morning.
The case against Marin began after the HSI Rio Grande Valley Child Exploitation Task Force executed the search warrant to locate the device and subject receiving and possessing child pornography.
Marin is a resident of the home in Laguna Heights, according to the criminal complaint, which states that he admitted to searching and receiving image and video files of child pornography for approximately the past 12 years.
A preliminary forensic evaluation revealed more than 100 images and one video of child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
The charging document against Marin-Abarca states that on the same day HSI was conducting a search warrant in Laguna Heights agents encountered the man sleeping in a bedroom.
That’s when agents say they discovered two firearms and approximately 148 rounds of ammunition.
According to the criminal complaint, Marin-Abarca admitted to swimming across the Rio Grande in January 2018 after being deported that same month.
Both men are being held without bond pending probable cause and detention hearings scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III.
