United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that a federal jury has found Ryan Rusty Rodriguez (45, Orlando) guilty of two counts of receiving child pornography, two counts of distributing child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography. Rodriguez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 27, 2021.
Rodriguez had been indicted on June 13, 2018, and a superseding indictment was returned on November 15, 2018.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, during an undercover online investigation, FBI agents discovered that Rodriguez was using peer-to-peer networks to download and distribute child pornography. When agents executed a search warrant at Rodriguez’s home, he attempted to hide a hard drive as the agents were knocking on his door. Rodriguez also used his training in computers and specialized software to attempt to erase the evidence of his offenses. The FBI’s Computer Analysis Response Team uncovered evidence of thousands of files of child pornography stored on Rodriguez’s devices.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Gardella, Shawn Napier, and Ilianys Rivera Miranda.
This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.