News Releases and Statements

Merle G. Daniels, 44, was charged in a three-count indictment alleging that he used a victim under the age of 16 to produce child pornography from Nov. 9 to Dec. 9, 2022.

Keenon Green, who used social media to try to recruit someone he believed was a 16-year-old female into prostitution, was sentenced in federal court to 144 months in prison on June 14.

Alfredo Velazquez-Hernandez, an unlawfully present citizen of Mexico, was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri’s Southern Division to 36 months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons followed by three years of supervised release for one count of transfer of obscene material to a minor following an HSI Springfield, joint law enforcement partner investigation.

Special agents with HSI Douglas and detectives with Sierra Vista Police Department under the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force arrested three people after separate investigations in Sierra Vista.

Wayne Joseph Cavins, 64, of Deltona, Florida, was also ordered to serve a life term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender. He had pleaded guilty on Nov. 15, 2022.

A judge sentenced Thomas Beck, 46, to more than 19 years for distribution of child sexual abuse material following an investigation conducted by HSI with the assistance of the San Antonio Police Department, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and ERO San Antonio.

Derek Flaming, 37, was found guilty after being convicted by a jury for receipt of obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children, distribution of obscene visual representation of the sexual abuse of children, aggravated sexual abuse, and attempted sexual abuse.

A Northeast Florida Interagency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking Task Force, or NEFL INTERCEPT, investigation led to guilty pleas for brothers Joshua Thomas Brown, 28, and Jonathan William Brown, 25, both of Jacksonville.

On May 31, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Christopher Joel Rabell-Pineiro, 25, of Canovanas, with production of child sexual abuse material and child exploitation. Authorities arrested Rabell-Pineiro on June 6.

Francisco Burgos Jr., 38, of Chantilly, Virginia, received the sentence May 17 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.

Jonathan Wilson, 35, of Chesapeake, received the lengthy prison sentence June 1 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk.

A federal grand jury returned the one-count indictment on Tuesday against Tong Sun, 45, from Suqian in the Jiangsu province of China. Sun is in custody following charges in a criminal complaint.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Raul Arias Marxuach sentenced Francisco Xavier Ortiz-Colon to 30 years in prison, 10 years of supervised release, and registration as a sex offender for nine counts of production of child pornography, eight counts of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual conduct, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.

Kevin Grant McMillan, 36, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to life in federal prison without parole.

Robert Quido Stella, 50, was found guilty of three counts of producing child pornography, each of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.

Richard O’Connor, 45, of Anaheim, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

Kyle William Leishear, 43, of Bayonet Point, Florida, received a 20-year prison sentence May 11. On April 25, Leishear’s three co-defendants received prison sentences for their roles in the enterprise: Christopher William Kuehner, 38, of Bremerton, Washington, received a 20-year sentence; Jacob Royce Mullins, 20, of South Webster, Ohio, received a seven-year sentence; and Matthew Martin, 25, of Lancaster, Wisconsin, received a sentence of six years and eight months in prison.

Darren Frank McCoy, a 55-year-old resident of McKinney, Texas, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to transportation of child pornography.

On May 12, U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard sentenced Nathan Tauck, 32, to 36 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of court-supervised release and to pay $60,000 in restitution.

Lazaro Segundo-Vazquez, 20, of Edinburg, appeared before a federal judge on May 15 and admitted to receiving over 1,800 images and video files containing child sexual abuse material.

Michael Wayne Roberts, 41, from Austin but living in Medellin, Colombia, was sentenced to 84 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release. The judge also ordered Roberts to pay $147,844.51 in restitution to his victims and register as a sex offender.

Stefani Kasey Marie Stevens, 31, of Yucaipa, California was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. A restitution hearing is scheduled for July 31. Stevens will be placed on supervised release for the rest of her life upon her release from prison.

On April 28, a judge sentenced Bryan Ross, 26, of Ellsworth, to 25 years in federal prison for producing and distributing child exploitation material following an HSI Kansas City probe.

An investigation conducted by HSI Charleston resulted in a conviction for a former police chief for sex trafficking and obstruction charges. A federal jury convicted Larry Allen Clay Jr., 57, of Fayetteville, West Virginia, for sex trafficking a minor and obstruction of justice after a four-day trial.

U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced Cruz Miguel Aguina, 40, to eight months in prison following a guilty plea to immigration fraud. Aguina was also judicially denaturalized as a U.S. citizen.