Greenbelt, Maryland – Romeo Joseph Hillman, age 29, of Rockville, Maryland, pleaded guilty late on January 4, 2016, to the distribution of child pornography.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to Hillman’s plea agreement, on October 22, 2014, an undercover FBI Task Force Officer downloaded 82 image and video files depicting children from approximately ages three to 13 engaged in sexually explicit conduct from an IP address associated with Hillman’s residence.  On February 11, 2015, a search warrant was executed at Hillman’s residence, and law enforcement sized two laptop computers, four USB drives, and a cellular telephone. 

A subsequent forensic examination of the seized media revealed at least 12,765 images and 600 videos of child pornography, including the images previously downloaded by the FBI Task Force Officer.  At least 125 files recovered from the seized media depict children previously identified as victims of child pornography by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  The forensic analysis also confirmed that Hillman had a file sharing program loaded on his computer.  Investigation showed that, in addition to the file sharing program, Hillman used Skype to exchange messages and files containing child pornography.

As part of his plea agreement, Hillman must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

Hillman and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Hillman will be sentenced to between 97 and 151 months in prison.  U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel has scheduled sentencing for April 20, 2016, at 9:00 a.m.