United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

TWO SAN ANGELO, TEXAS, MEN SENTENCED IN
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASES

LUBBOCK, Texas — Oscar Joel Martinez and Noe Hogeda, both of San Angelo, Texas, who pled guilty late last year in separate cases to child pornography charges, were sentenced today in Lubbock by U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.

Oscar Joel Martinez, 53, was sentenced to 188 months in prison and Judge Cummings also ordered that Martinez be taken into immediate custody by the U.S. Marshal. Martinez pled guilty in November to one count of interstate receipt of child pornography.

In documents filed in Court, Martinez admitted that he collected and traded images and videos of child pornography, using his computer to access the Internet and conduct the transactions. He used “peer-to-peer” file-sharing software to conduct searches and to obtain images and videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct with adults, and was aware that it was illegal to do so. On July 3, 2007, when agents executed a search warrant at his residence in San Angelo, Martinez had hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on his computer.

Noe Hogeda, Jr., 22, was sentenced to 120 months in prison. Hogeda pled guilty in November to one count of possession of child pornography. He must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by March 26, 2008.

Hogeda admitted that in May 2006, he possessed a computer hard disk drive which contained one or more images of child pornography. He admitted using his computer to conduct searches to obtain images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct with adults and used file-sharing software to locate the images and videos of child pornography that he downloaded and saved to this computer.

Both defendants must register as sex offenders under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

 The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

U.S. Attorney Roper commended the investigative efforts of the United States Secret Service, Lubbock Resident Agency, the Longview, Texas, Police Department, the San Angelo, Texas, Police Department, and the San Angelo Assistant Special Agent in Charge Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the Lubbock, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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