HSI investigation results in New Mexico man’s guilty plea to child pornography charges

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A Deming man pleaded guilty Oct. 26, to production and attempted production of child pornography, receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography, and enticement and attempted enticement of a minor.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Las Cruces District Office, New Mexico State Police, the Deming Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office for the Sixth Judicial District as part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

Jeffery Dean Biddle, 41, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, from about June 24, 2021, to Sept. 4, 2021, Biddle used his cell phone to knowingly coerce someone he believed to be an 8-year-old girl to take pornographic photos to send to him by text message. Biddle specifically requested “naked” pictures and asked for nude photographs about 24 times. During these text exchanges, Biddle also sent nude photographs of himself. On June 24, 2021, Aug. 1, 2021, and Sept. 4, 2021, Biddle knowingly received and attempted to receive child pornography from the person he believed was 8 years old.

By the terms of his plea agreement, Biddle faces a minimum of 35 years and up to life in prison.

The ICAC Task Force Program is a nation-wide network of task forces including over 90 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies in New Mexico dedicated to investigating, prosecuting and developing effective responses to Internet crimes against children.

Assistant United States Attorneys Marisa A. Ong and Matilda McCarthy Villalobos are prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.