Registered Sex Offender Heads to Prison…Again

HOUSTON – A 45-year-old Porter man has again been sent to prison, this time for three federal charges to include distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Eric Furzland is a sex offender who has been required to register since his conviction for indecency with a child in 1997 in Harris County. He pleaded guilty Oct. 12, 2017.

Today, U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett sentenced Furzland to a total of 288 months in federal prison. He will also serve 20 years on supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. Furzland will also again be ordered to register as a sex offender.

Authorities believed Furzland was uploading and storing child pornography into a virtual storage account. He had been using a variety of online applications to chat with others about child pornography and trade materials. He later posted such materials to a cloud storage service and made the link to his account available to at least one other person.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence, at which time they seized computer media and cellular phones. Forensic analysis of the phone, computer media and virtual storage accounts revealed 300 child pornography images and 2000 child pornography videos.  

At a detention hearing held shortly after his arrest in April 2017, Furzland was found to be a flight risk and danger to the community. He has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The FBI conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Zack is prosecuting the case which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."