Union City Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Producing Child Pornography

Conspired with Woman in Philippines to Sell Child Pornography in United States

OAKLAND, CA—A Union City, California, man pled guilty and was sentenced today to 20 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for conspiring with a woman in the Philippines to produce child pornography, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

According to the plea agreement, from Feb. 5, 2009, through Feb. 17, 2009, Donald Snyder conspired with a woman in the Philippines, known only by her Internet username as "lexenemae_sy," to produce child pornography. Initially, Snyder, using the Internet username "riccisdad53," purchased from "lexenemae_sy" live Internet webcam shows of young girls engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Eventually, "lexenemae_sy" and Snyder discussed via Internet instant messaging the prospect of forming a business partnership whereby "lexenemae_sy" would photograph minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct in the Philippines and then e-mail the images to Snyder for him to sell in the United States. To further this business partnership, Snyder wired money to the Philippines so that "lexenemae_sy" could purchase a digital camera to take the photographs.

According to the plea agreement, soon after Snyder provided the seed money, "lexenemae_sy" began emailing sexually explicit photographs of girls who were 7, 10, and 14 years old. At times, Snyder directed the photography sessions by watching "lexenemae_sy" via his webcam and communicating his instructions for the poses he wanted via instant messaging. While "lexenemae_sy" was photographing the young girls in the Philippines, Snyder used the Internet to market the photographs to select individuals. On Feb. 18, 2009, before Snyder could widely circulate the images, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant for his residence in Union City, which lead to his arrest.

Snyder, 47, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 29, 2009. He was charged with conspiring to produce child pornography, distributing child pornography, and possessing child pornography. He pleaded guilty today to conspiring to produce child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(e).

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Saundra B. Armstrong. Snyder had faced a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years. The terms of his supervised release require Snyder to receive sex offender treatment, register as a sex offender, and avoid all contact with minors.

Snyder has been in custody since his initial appearance in federal court on Nov. 2, 2009. He will remain in custody and be transferred to a federal institution to serve out his sentence.

Joshua Hill is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case with the assistance of Jeanne Carstensen. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Further Information:

Case #: CR-09-01061-SBA

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by email at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov.