Crownpoint Man Sentenced to Prison for Failing to Update His Sex Offender Registration

ALBUQUERQUE – Ferlin Platero, 50, of Crownpoint, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 24 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for failing to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez 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, or where the offender is a student, and that the sex offender maintain current registrations.

Platero was arrested on Dec. 17, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with violating SORNA by failing to update his sex offender registration.  On Jan. 8, 2015, Platero was indicted for failing to update his registration between July 1, 2014 and Dec. 9, 2014, in McKinley County, N.M.

According to court filings, Platero was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse in Nov. 1993.  On Feb. 24, 2004, he registered as a sex offender in the State of Arizona and agreed to notify the sheriff of the county to which he moved if he were ever to move out of the county. Platero last registered as a sex offender on Oct. 26, 2012, in Ariz., and subsequently failed to notify the New Mexico Department of Public Safety or the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety that he was required to register as a sex offender when he moved to New Mexico

On April 28, 2015, Platero pled guilty to a felony information charging him with failing to update his registration in McKinley County, N.M.  He entered the guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mease.