United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy | U.S. Department of Justice
The former Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Jhovanny Martes-Rosario, has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to child pornography. On December 6, 2024, he admitted to one count of transportation and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV has scheduled his sentencing for March 10, 2025.
In February 2023, law enforcement identified Martes-Rosario as a probable user of Yahoo and Apple accounts that contained illegal content. A subsequent search at his residence led to the seizure of an iPad containing such material. He confessed to owning the email addresses linked to these accounts and acknowledged searching for and downloading the material over several years.
Martes-Rosario faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for transporting child pornography, with potential penalties extending up to 20 years in prison and lifetime supervised release. The charge also includes a possible fine of up to $250,000. For possession charges, the penalties are similar but do not include a mandatory minimum sentence.
This case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood—a Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation—by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus and Meghan C. Cleary.
United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy made the announcement alongside Jodi Cohen from the FBI's Boston Division and Colonel Geoffrey D. Noble from the Massachusetts State Police. The Essex County District Attorney’s Office provided additional support in this case.
