West Texas man sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison for producing child pornography

LUBBOCK, Texas — A West Texas man was sentenced Friday to 262 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2015 to one count of producing child pornography and one count of enticing a minor. 

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.  This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Rangers, the Sonora (Texas) Police Department, and Sutton County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office.

According to documents filed in his case, in March 2015, Marcos Antonio Gamez, 23, of Sonora, engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a minor female, and he used his cellphone to produce a video of that conduct.  Gamez also persuaded this girl to recruit another girl to join them in sexually explicit conduct, but this second girl declined to participate.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, was in charge of the prosecution.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.