South Los Angeles Man Sentenced to Over 10 Years in Federal Prison for Receipt of Child Pornography

          LOS ANGELES – A federal judge has sentenced a South Los Angeles man to more than 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography he obtained over a peer-to-peer computer network.

          Fernando Vasquez Garcia, 31, was sentenced on May 24 to 121 months in prison, which will be followed by a lifetime period of supervised release. In addition to the prison term, United States District Judge André Birotte Jr. ordered Garcia to pay $1,000 in restitution to one victim and a $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.

          Garcia pleaded guilty on February 22 to one count of receiving child pornography. When he pleaded guilty, Garcia admitted obtaining videos and still images from a peer-to-peer network that depicted, among other things, a 10-year-old being forced to have sex and children under the age of 2 being used for sex acts.

          When he was juvenile, Garcia had an adjudication for committing a lewd act on a child, according to court documents. Prosecutors argued that the juvenile offense, combined with the child pornography offense, demonstrated a “well-documented and lifelong sexual interest in, and obsession with, children.”

          The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation into Garcia.

          This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kathy Yu of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section.