Ex-Lawrence mayor chief of staff pleads guilty to child pornography charges
The former chief of staff to the Lawrence mayor has pleaded guilty to transporting and possessing child sexual abuse material.
Jhovanny Martes-Rosario, 50, pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Martes-Rosario was indicted by a federal grand jury last year.
Police in February 2023 had identified him as the likely user of Yahoo and Apple accounts containing child pornography.
Law enforcement officers searched Martes-Rosario’s residence, and an iPad device was seized with child pornography files, according to the feds.
Martes-Rosario admitted that he was the owner of the email addresses and that he searched for and downloaded child pornography to his personal iPad — and later sent it to his email address for storage. He also admitted he had been searching for and storing child pornography for years, the feds said.
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U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled Martes-Rosario’s sentencing for March 10.
The charge of transportation of child pornography has a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The charge of possession of child pornography can lead to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes that govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.