Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that MARTHA OJEDA, age 41, of Pflugerville, Texas, pled guilty as charged yesterday to a one-count Bill of Information charging her with interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
According to the court documents, in late February 2017, OJEDA met the minor, a fifteen-year-old boy who resided in Franklinton, Louisiana, on a social networking website. From late February until early April, OJEDA and the minor engaged in sexually explicit correspondence, including simulating sexual intercourse and other sexual contact and plans to engage in sexual acts in the future, on numerous occasions. During the correspondence, OJEDA requested and received sexually explicit images and videos of the minor via a social media-based instant messaging application. In early April, OJEDA and the minor made plans for OJEDA to travel to Louisiana to pick up the minor and return to Texas together for the purpose of engaging in sex and spending the rest of their lives together. On about April 8, 2017, OJEDA traveled by commercial bus and then by taxi from Texas to the minor’s Franklinton home. OJEDA and the minor then travelled back to New Orleans, where they stayed in a hotel room together and engaged in sexual intercourse. On about April 9, 2017, OJEDA and the minor travelled via commercial bus from New Orleans to Houston for the purpose of engaging in living together in a romantic relationship. OJEDA and the minor then moved to Pflugerville, where they lived together until the minor was recovered by Special Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 12, 2017.
OJEDA faces a maximum term of imprisonment of not more than 30 years followed by between 5 years and a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. OJEDA may also be required to register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo set sentencing for Dec. 14, 2017.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg is in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
