FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Docket #: 1:10-cr-00165 AWI

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Albert Garza, 53, of Delano, was sentenced Monday by United States District Court Anthony W. Ishii to 20 years in prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release for sharing and possessing child pornography.

According to court records, Garza downloaded and maintained a collection of 358 videos and 1,741 still images depicting minors engaged in various types of sexually explicit conduct. He shared the child pornography images from his computers to others on the Internet. Garza was convicted by a jury on March 1, 2012 and has been in federal custody since that date.

“This sentence serves as a strong reminder that the sexual exploitation of children is a crime that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Michael Toms, resident agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Bakersfield. “Those who prey on society’s most vulnerable must be made to understand there are consequences for their crimes and the anonymity of cyberspace and the Internet offers no protection.”

This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorneys Brian W. Enos and Jeremy R. Jehangiri prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

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