Two Men Sentenced to Prison for Violating Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)

ALBUQUERQUE – Yesterday a federal district judge in Las Cruces, N.M., sentenced two men to prison terms for failure to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales and U.S. Marshal Conrad E. Candelaria.

SORNA, also known as the Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act, requires that a convicted sex offender register in each jurisdiction where the offender resides, where the offender is employed, and/or where the offender is a student, and that the sex offender maintain current registrations.

Vincent Foreman, 41, a Texas resident most recently located in Carlsbad, N.M., was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, for failing to update his sex offender registration in Eddy County, N.M., between Jan. 18, 2011 and Dec. 14, 2011. Foreman was required to register as a sex offender and maintain his registration because he was convicted of criminal sexual contact with a minor and false imprisonment in the State of New Mexico (Cibola County) in Oct. 1997. Although Foreman registered as a sex offender in San Angelo, Texas, after he was released from prison, he failed to update his registration when he relocated to Carlsbad. On April 23, 2012, Foreman pled guilty and admitted that he failed to update his registration as required.

In a separate case, Jessie Lee Cox, 41, most recently residing in Hobbs, N.M., was sentenced to twelve months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, for failing to register as a sex offender. Court records reflect that Cox was required to register as a sex offender because he previously had been convicted of a sex offense in the State of Texas. Cox was arrested on June 20, 2012, and has been in custody since that time. On Oct. 11, 2012, Cox entered a guilty plea and admitted that he failed to register as a sex offender in Lea County, N.M., between Jan. 30, 2011 and Feb. 13, 2012.

The two cases were investigated by the U.S. Marshal Service and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.