Calexico Resident Found Guilty Of Receipt Of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that Lawson Hardrick, a retired United States Customs and Border Protection Officer was found guilty by a federal jury earlier today in San Diego of two counts of receipt of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, each a felony. The verdicts follow a one-day trial before United States District Judge Marilyn L. Huff.

According to the evidence presented at trial, agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted an investigation of persons using peer to peer file-sharing programs to make child pornography available to others. According to the forensic evidence introduced at trial, the defendant received videos of children as young as four and nine years old through a file-sharing program in 2008 through 2010. The indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury sitting in San Diego in July 2012.

The defendant is next scheduled to be in court on April 29, 2013 at 9:00 a.m., before Judge Huff for a sentencing hearing.

DEFENDANT	Case Number: 12cr3061-H
Lawson Hardrick
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Counts: 2 Receipt of Images of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct- Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a) (2) Maximum Penalties: 20 years’ incarceration with a five year mandatory minimum sentence, $250,000 fine, a minimum of 5 years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and registration as a sex offender.
INVESTIGATING AGENCY
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations