BOISE – Martin Daniel Atkins, Jr., 28, of Owyhee, Nevada, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court in Boise to failure to register as a sex offender, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

According to the plea agreement, Atkins was required to register as a sex offender following his guilty plea in 2005 to two counts of sexually abusing a minor. Upon his release from prison in 2007, Atkins began the registration process and had most recently indicated he was living at his stepmother’s home on the Idaho side of the Duck Valley reservation. Investigators learned that Atkins had moved to Nevada and was later employed in Arizona. Atkins failed to notify authorities that he had moved from Idaho.

The charge of failing to register as a sex offender carries a maximum punishment of up to ten years in prison, a fine up to $250,000, and a minimum term of five years to lifetime supervised release.

Sentencing is set for November 16, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise.

The case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service.

Atkins was prosecuted for a violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) passed by Congress in 2006. The Act requires sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction where they reside. Violations of SORNA can be prosecuted in federal court.