A 44-year-old Porter man has entered guilty pleas to federal charges of distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography.
Authorities believed Eric Furzland was uploading and storing child pornography into a virtual storage account. He had been using a variety of online applications to chat with others about child pornography and trade materials. He later posted such materials to a cloud storage service and made the link to his account available to at least one other person.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence, at which time they seized computer media and cell phones. Forensic analysis of the phone, computer media and virtual storage accounts revealed 300 child pornography images and 2000 child pornography videos.
U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett accepted the plea today and has set sentencing for Dec. 20, 2017. At that time, Furzland faces a mandatory minimum of 15 and up to 40 years imprisonment for the distribution and receipt of child pornography as well as another 10-20 years for possession. All charges carry the possibility of an additional $250,000 fine. Furzland also faces a maximum of life on supervised release during which the court can impose a number of special conditions designed to protect children and prohibit the use of the Internet. He will again be required to register as a sex offender for up to the rest of his life.
At a detention hearing held shortly after his arrest in April 2017, Furzland was found to be a flight risk and danger to the community. He has been in custody since that time where he will remain pending that hearing.
Furzland is a sex offender who has been required to register since his conviction for Indecency with a Child with Sexual Contact (3, female) in 1997 in Harris County.
According to court documents, Furzland admitted to viewing and receiving child pornography immediately after his 2009 release from prison.
www.justice.gov/usao -sdtx