Warren County Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 13, 2012 |
TRENTON, NJ—A Warren County, New Jersey man today admitted possessing child pornography on his computer and an external hard drive, including violent video images, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Leonard Ramirez, 40, of Great Meadows, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton federal court to an indictment charging him with possession of child pornography.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On April 21, 2009, law enforcement agents from the Phillipsburg, New Jersey Police Department interviewed Ramirez at his former girlfriend’s residence in Phillipsburg. They obtained Ramirez’s consent to search his laptop computer and discovered images of child pornography.
On May 13, 2009, law enforcement agents from the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police executed a search warrant at Ramirez’s residence. Law enforcement seized an iMac computer and an external hard drive that contained numerous pictures and videos depicting child pornography. The external hard drive also contained videos of sadistic conduct and other violent images involving minors.
The charge of possession of child pornography to which Ramirez pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for February 22, 2013. Ramirez remains released on $100,000 unsecured bond and is barred from contact with minors and use of computers.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark; the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Richard T. Burke; the Warren County Chief of Detectives William R. Eppell; the Phillipsburg Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Faulborn; and the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Rick Fuentes, Superintendent, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John E. Clabby and R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.