BOSTON — The former chief of staff for the mayor of Lawrence has been sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in December, the U.S. Attorney said Monday.
Jhovanny Martes-Rosario, 50, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Boston to 43 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV handed down his sentence.
Martes-Rosario pleaded guilty in December to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, Foley said.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2023, following his arrest in February of that year. He was also fired from his city position following his arrest.
In February 2023, investigators executing a search at Martes-Rosario’s home seized an iPad device that contained child pornography files, prosecutors said.
Police obtained the search warrant after the State Police Cyber Crime Unit received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about images of child pornography uploaded from an IP address associated with Martes-Rosario.
Investigators identified Martes-Rosario as the likely user of Yahoo and Apple accounts containing child pornography, prosecutors said.
Martes-Rosario later admitted that he owned 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, prosecutors.
He also admitted he had been searching for and storing child pornography “for years,” prosecutors said.
Martes-Rosario, a father of three, previously worked as a science teacher for Lawrence Public Schools, as a legislative aide at the State House, and also volunteered with AmeriCorps, according to biographical information provided on a political flier earlier posted on Facebook when Martes-Rosario previously ran for a City Council seat.
“JHOVANNY MARTES is running for City Council District E because as a Senior Legislative Aide at the State House, and a former teacher at the Lawrence Public Schools, he firmly believes he is ready to represent the district with devotion and commitment,” the Facebook post read.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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