PRISON FOR U.S. GOVT CYBER SECURITY EXPERT CAUGHT IN OMAHA CHILD PORN STING

Timothy DeFoggi (Omaha Police Dept)

The former acting director of cyber security at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Timothy DeFoggi, will spend up to 25 years in federal prison after being caught using his computer skills to distribute child pornography.

DeFoggi, 56, was sentenced today in federal district court in Omaha. According to the news release from the Department of Justice he was convicted last August following a four-day jury trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp.  DeFoggi had served as the director of cyber security of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Charges included engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, conspiracy to advertise and distribute child pornography and accessing a computer with intent to view child pornography. He previously lived in Germantown, Maryland.

The arrest was made as part of an on going investigation by a federal anti-child pornography task force, based out of the FBI field office in Omaha, which in 2012 took down a file sharing service using software designed to protect the anonymity of its users. 

Here’s how the Justice Department summarized the case:

“According to evidence presented at trial, DeFoggi registered as a member of the Tor-network-based child pornography website on March 2, 2012, and maintained his membership and activity until Dec. 8, 2012, when the website was taken down by the FBI.  The website’s users utilized advanced technological means in order to undermine law enforcement’s attempts to identify them.  The website was accessible only through Tor, an Internet application specifically designed to facilitate anonymous communication.  Acting under the cloak of anonymity, users advised others on best practices to prevent detection by law enforcement, including advice about the proper use of encryption software, techniques to hide or password-protect child pornography collections, and programs to remove data from a user’s computer.”

Court records identified the site as “PedoBook” a secret pornography website where members swapped sexual fantasies as well as explicit photos and videos of children.

DeFoggi was the sixth individual to be convicted as part of an ongoing investigation. Four other “PedoBook” members were previously convicted and sentenced in connection with their illegal activity on the site.

Fed Court: Nebraska Can Deny Drivers License to Some Non-Citizens

It is legal for Nebraska’s Department of Motor Vehicles to deny drivers licenses to people brought into the U.S. Illegally as children.

The ruling came from the Federal District Court of Nebraska this afternoon. Mayra Saldana challenged the DMV’s rules in the lawsuit.  Her family moved her from Mexico to Lincoln, Neb. when she was two years old.  Twenty-two years later she wanted a driver’s license but was turned down more than once because she was not a U.S. Citizen with required documents.  Saldana felt the law had been misapplied and she was not being treated equally with other immigrants.

Sample Nebraska License

She lives in the U.S. legally, having been granted permission under what the Department of Homeland Security calls “deferred action.”  In effect, the U.S. has held off on making a decision whether to deport someone.  It’s often used in cases where kids are brought into the country by family who entered the country illegally.  The law does not recognize deferred status as legal citizenship.  

Saldana's case was dismissed with a summary judgement this afternoon by U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp .  Judge Smith Camp, after reviewing Nebraska state law and DMV policy and procedures felt the state has a clear policy that does not treat people with differing immigration statuses in separate ways.  Camp wrote that DMV director Rhonda Lahm (the defendant in the case) treated non-citizens equally by issuing driver’s licenses only to applicants in the country lawfully.  

“Saldana is not similarly situated to persons having lawful status in the United States with respect to her qualification for a Nebraska driver’s license, and Lahm has not denied Saldana equal protection of the law,” Judge Smith Camp wrote in her order. 

 

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said in a prepared statement after the ruling was released: “We’re pleased the court dismissed the case and recognized illegal immigrants don’t qualify for Nebraska driver’s licenses.”  

You can get a permit to drive in Nebraska if you aren't a citizen.  You do need to provide one of the following:

• A valid Resident Alien Card or Permanent Resident Card.
• A valid Temporary Resident Identification Card.
• A valid Employment Authorization Card.

Read Judge Smith Camp’s order here.