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A 27-year-old Laredo man, Fernando Xavier Ortiz, has been convicted of transporting, receiving, and possessing child pornography. The investigation began after law enforcement learned that child sexual abuse material had been uploaded to a social media application from an apartment in Laredo, where Ortiz resided with his family. The upload occurred in June 2024, and authorities executed a search warrant, seizing several electronic devices. Ortiz’s trial concluded on May 12, and he was found guilty on all counts.
Further examination of one of the cellular phones revealed 220 videos and 144 images containing child sexual abuse material, all hidden in a secure folder on the phone. The folder was password-protected, and Ortiz had used it for other purposes, such as sending emails to purchase a car. The jury heard from four witnesses, who described how Ortiz obtained the material from another application and stored it in the secure folder of his Samsung phone.
The defense attempted to convince the jury that someone else must have placed the material on his phone, but the jury did not believe these claims and found Ortiz guilty as charged. U.S. District Judge John A. Kazen presided over the trial and will set sentencing at a later date. Ortiz faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
Ortiz was previously released on bond but was ordered into custody following the verdict. The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Laredo Police Department and other members of the Laredo Child Exploitation Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann Zeller and Michael Makens prosecuted the case.
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