Local man detained for illegal entry into the US, guilty on child pornography charges

PROVIDENCE, RI –A Providence man arrested for possessing hundreds of videos and images of child pornography pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to a charge of possession of child pornography.

Samuel Mendez-Garcia, 42, admitted that he belonged to an online social media group that viewed and exchanged child pornography. Mendez-Garcia also admitted that he sent child pornography via Facebook messenger.

Mendez-Garcia’s guilty plea is announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh, and Rhode Island State Police Superintendent Colonel Ann C. Assumpico.

According to information presented to the Court, in late March 2018, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received information from security personnel at Facebook that a user of their services, with an IP address in Rhode Island, uploaded child pornography. The information was forwarded to the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force who determined that the IP address and the Facebook account belonged to Mendez-Garcia.

On July 19, 2018, members of the ICAC task force executed a court-authorized search of Mendez-Garcia’s residence and seized a laptop computer and cell phone he owned. Law enforcement officers also seized a cell phone that was in his possession.

A forensic analysis of one of Mendez-Garcia’s cell phones by a member of the ICAC task force revealed more than 600 videos and images containing child pornography, including images involving prepubescent minors and sadistic/masochistic conduct.

Mendez-Garcia, who has been detained in federal custody since his arrest on August 1, 2018, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 14, 2019.

Additionally, an immigration detainer has been lodged against Mendez-Garcia by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after it was determined that he entered the United States illegally. It was also determined that Mendez-Garcia was prevented from entering the United States illegally as he attempted to cross the U.S. border from Mexico in 2002.