Illegal Alien Possessing Firearms Sentenced to Nearly Seven Years in Federal Prison

Staff — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 00:30:47 +0000

BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Honduran national to nearly seven years in prison for being in the United States illegally and possessing firearms, one that was used in a 2016 homicide at a Bessemer nightclub, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Ray Parmer.
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins sentenced WALTER ALONSO MARTINEZ-CHANDIAS, 27, to six years and nine months in prison on one count of possession of a firearm by an alien illegally in the U.S. Martinez-Chandias pled guilty to the charge in March.
Following an Oct. 23, 2016, homicide at a nightclub in Bessemer, Birmingham Police identified Martinez-Chandias as a suspect, according to his guilty plea. Birmingham officers arrested him following a traffic stop near his Bessemer residence when they saw an AR-style .223-caliber pistol on the front passenger seat next to Martinez-Chandias and a Taurus PT-111 Pro 9mm pistol on the driver’s seat next to his leg, according to the plea. Martinez-Chandias was the only person in the car.
He later admitted to detectives that he possessed the Taurus pistol in connection to the nightclub shooting, according to his plea. Immigration records confirmed that Martinez-Chandias was in the country illegally.
Martinez-Chandias faces state charges in connection to the Bessemer homicide. Judge Hopkins ordered that his federal prison sentence run concurrently with any sentence that might be imposed for the state crime.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Birmingham Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Austin Shutt prosecuted.

Cullman County Man Indicted For Producing Child Pornography Involving Multiple Victims

Staff — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 22:14:15 +0000

Gregory Jerome Lee (ALDOC)

BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Cullman County man, on charges related to the production of child pornography involving four minor victims, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

GREGORY JEROME LEE, 53, was indicted on four counts of production of child pornography, one count of conspiracy to advertise child pornography and one count of conspiracy to distribute and receive child pornography.

According to the indictment, from September 1996 through December 2004, Lee used, persuaded, coerced and enticed minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to produce images of that conduct. Between September 1996 and August 2007, Lee conspired with other individuals to distribute and receive child pornography through a variety of means, including the Internet.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Hutzell and Trial Attorney Amy E. Larson of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section are prosecuting the case.

The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. Members of the public who may have information related to this matter should call the USPIS Birmingham Office at (205) 326-2909.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Federal court – Shoals Insider

Illegal Alien Possessing Firearms Sentenced to Nearly Seven Years in Federal Prison

Cullman County Man Indicted For Producing Child Pornography Involving Multiple Victims