Las Cruces man sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for production of child pornography

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Armando Abel Gonzalez, 40, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was sentenced in federal court today to 20 years in prison for production of child pornography. Gonzalez pleaded guilty on March 17, 2020.

According to court records, on Sept. 9, 2019, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received a cyber tip from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office that had been received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In his plea agreement, Gonzalez admitted that on June 3, 2019, he used Facebook to chat with Clarissa Chavez, 31, of Las Cruces, and that he produced and sent pornographic video of a 10-year-old victim to Chavez.

On Sept. 3, 2020, Chavez pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography. In her plea agreement, Chavez admitted to using Facebook to chat with Gonzalez and that on June 10, 2019, she received a video from Gonzalez depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct with an adult. On Jan. 12, 2021, Chavez was sentenced to five years and 11 months in prison.

Upon their release from prison, Gonzalez and Chavez will be subject to 10 years of supervised release and must register as sex offenders.

HSI investigated this case with assistance from the Las Cruces Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Marisa A. Ong prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood,  a nationwide initiative to combat the 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.

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