Robert W. Schmidt, 55, of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque Monday to one count of transporting a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Schmidt, who has been in federal custody since his April 1 arrest, was charged in a four-count indictment with two counts of transporting child pornography and two counts of possessing child pornography, but under the plea agreement three counts will be dismissed when Schmidt is sentenced, the release said.
At his sentencing hearing, which hasn’t been set yet, Schmidt is facing a maximum penalty of not less than five years and up to 20 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender after his prison term is up, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Court records show that an investigation began when a maintenance worker at the apartment complex where Schmidt lived reported seeing child pornography on Schmidt’s computer when he entered the apartment on an emergency repair, the release said.
Albuquerque police searched Schmidt’s apartment and seized computers and computer-related media containing thousands of images and videos of child pornography, court records said.
In his plea agreement, Schmidt acknowledged that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had determined that there were 1,244 images of 48 children who have been identified as child-pornography victims and have been rescued, according to federal prosecutors.
At his plea hearing Monday, Schmidt admitted bringing child pornography from Illinois to New Mexico when he moved from Rockford, Ill., to Albuquerque in June 2010, the release said.
