A Gallup man named Ervinson Yazzie pled guilty to the distribution and possession of child pornography.
According to court documents, on Oct. 10, 2018, the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit of the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip was originally submitted to NCMEC by Facebook. The tip alleged that Yazzie, 34, uploaded and sent one file of child sexual abuse material to another Facebook user.
During the resulting investigation, agents determined that Yazzie had sent approximately 90 images of child sexual abuse material to another Facebook user on September 14, 2018. On December 21, 2020, the FBI conducted an interview with Yazzie at his residence. During the interview, Yazzie indicated he had found and downloaded the child sexual abuse material from the Internet and possessed more images on a hard drive. On the hard drive, the FBI located 90 images and 28 videos of child pornography.
In a plea agreement, Yazzie admitted that he distributed 96 images of child pornography through Facebook messenger and that he possessed approximately 28 videos and 90 images on a hard drive.
Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced on Aug. 28 that Yazzie pleaded guilty to one count each of distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Yazzie will remain on conditions of release pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
At sentencing, Yazzie faces up to 20 years in prison. Upon his release from prison, Yazzie will be subject to up to lifetime supervised release and must register as a sex offender.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensics Lab.
