Edcouch man imprisoned for downloading over 100 sexually explicit and violent videos of minors

McALLEN, Texas - A 41-year-old man has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

A federal jury deliberated for less than 45 minutes before convicting Miguel Martinez Feb. 28, 2019, following a two-day trial.

Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane has now ordered Martinez to serve 168 months in federal prison. Martinez was further ordered to pay a total of $6,000 in restitution. Martinez will serve five years on supervised release following completion of his prison term. During that time, he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Martinez will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

Martinez came to the attention of law enforcement following an investigation in the spring of 2012 into persons using the internet to traffic in child pornography. Authorities located and identified Martinez as a participant on a peer-to-peer network offering to distribute and receive videos of child pornography.

On Nov. 14, 2012, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Martinez's residence, at which time they seized a computer and various external storage media devices. A forensic examination of the devices revealed 123 videos and images of children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct including bondage and acts of violence against them. Some of the images are of known victims as identified through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In a subsequent interview, Martinez admitted to downloading the child pornography found on his computer and external storage media, which were stored in a folder labeled "Mike's Stuff."

At the time of the trial, Martinez denied any wrongdoing and testified that he could not remember any of the events that transpired at the time of the execution of the search warrant.

Martinez will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Ann Leo and Laura Garcia prosecuted the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section leads PSC, which marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identifies and rescues victims. For more information about PSC, please visit DOJ's PSC page. For more information about internet safety education, please visit the resources tab on that page.