Eric Anthony Huerta Sentenced in U.S. District Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 01, 2012 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on March 1, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, ERIC ANTHONY HUERTA, a 25-year-old resident of Butte, appeared for sentencing. HUERTA was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 87 months
- Special assessment: $100
- Supervised release: 15 years
HUERTA was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession of child pornography.
In an offer of proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
As part of an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation, the FBI obtained a search warrant for HUERTA’s residence in Butte. During the search, agents determined HUERTA was the suspect, and he was interviewed.
During his interview, HUERTA confessed to the crime. He also provided a written statement stating that beginning in early 2010, he started looking at child pornography on his younger sister’s computer. He said he used FrostWire and saved the files. He provided search terms (lolita, pthc, teen, qwerty, pths), and admitted that he masturbated while viewing the images. Agents seized the computer.
When the computer was forensically analyzed, the examiner located files on the computer which he determined were downloaded via the Internet. Those files were videos and images portraying children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The files were created between June 29, 2010 and January 14, 2011. The examiner also determined FrostWire was installed on the computer. The examiner also determined the user viewed three of the videos with Windows Media Player.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that HUERTA will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, HUERTA does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overall sentence.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Helena Police Department.