Minnesota Fugitive Apprehended in California

U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones and U.S. Marshal Sharon Lubinski announced early today that a Minnesota fugitive was captured yesterday morning in California. Matthew Eric Linngren, age 38, of Fridley, fled Minnesota after having been sentenced on September 8, 2010, to 180 months in federal prison on one count of distribution of child pornography. He was ordered to surrender himself to the U.S. Marshals Service (“USMS”) on September 22, 2010, but failed to do so. He was arrested yesterday by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office on auto theft charges. Linngren will be turned over to the USMS and extradited to Minnesota where he will likely face additional charges.

Linngren was sentenced for distributing more than 600 images of child pornography. He was indicted on September 10, 2009, and pleaded guilty on December 17, 2009. In his plea agreement, Linngren admitted sending pictures of minors in sexually explicit poses to an Internet Yahoo group.

The child pornography distribution case against Matthew Eric Linngren was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an affiliate agency of the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is funded in large part by federal dollars awarded through Project Safe Childhood. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Newberry, Michelle E. Jones, and Karen B. Schommer.