Pomona Resident Previously Convicted in Child Exploitation Case Indicted for Illegally Possessing Weapons Cache

LOS ANGELES—An Army veteran who was convicted of possessing child pornography after a court martial was indicted today on federal charges of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Ky Cheng, 43, of Pomona, was named in a one-count indictment that charges him with illegally possessing a cache of weapons. If he is convicted of the charge, he would face a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

The case stems from a probation search of Cheng’s residence on August 14, 2013. Law enforcement officials from the Pomona Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation conducted the search and found weapons that prompted the Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad to respond. As a result of the weapons discovered during the search, the FBI San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Gang Task Force was brought in to investigate.

The indictment alleges that Cheng illegally possessed eight .45-caliber handguns, two 12-gauge shotguns, one .308-caliber rifle, 46 high-capacity ammunition magazines, and approximately 1,200 rounds ammunition.

Cheng was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2007, and he was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court of failing to register as a sex offender in 2010.

Cheng is currently in the Los Angeles County Jail serving a three-year sentence imposed for violating the terms of his probation in the 2010 case.