Albuquerque Man Sentenced to 72 Months for Federal Child Pornography Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Faviano Lopez, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court to 72 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Lopez will also be required to register as a sex offender.  The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent in Charge Waldemar Rodriguez of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas; New Mexico State Police Chief Pete Kassetas, and Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden, Jr.

Lopez was arrested on July 11, 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging federal child pornography charges.  According to the criminal complaint, the investigation into Lopez was initiated by the Homeland Security Investigations and the New Mexico State Police in Nov. 2013, after the NMSP obtained information indicating that an IP address subscribed to the residence in which Lopez was residing was being used to share video and image files consistent with child pornography.  In Feb. 2014, HSI and the Albuquerque Police Department executed a federal search warrant at Lopez’s residence and seized computer and computer-related media containing video and image files consistent with child pornography from Lopez’s bedroom.  Lopez was arrested on state charges for violating his probation in Feb. 2014; those charges were later dismissed in favor of federal prosecution.

On Oct. 20, 2014, Lopez entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with receipt of child pornography.  In his plea agreement, Lopez admitted receiving child pornography from May 2013 to Feb. 2014, by downloading images and videos of child pornography using a peer-to-peer file sharing system.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, the New Mexico State Police and the Albuquerque Police Department, all of which are members of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.

The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.  There are 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.