Ex-cop gets over 8-year sentence for possession of child porn

The U.S. District Court for the NMI has sentenced a former Department of Public Safety traffic division officer to over eight years in prison for possessing child pornography.

Edjay Jaime Sablan, who graduated at the top of his class during the 23rd cycle of the DPS Police Academy, was sentenced to a 97-month imprisonment term, or just a little over eight years. He was given credit for time served.

U.,S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona ordered Sablan to submit to five years supervised release and comply with many conditions, which include 40 hours of community service at the direction of the U.S. Probation Office, following the completion of his over eight-year prison sentence.

Other special conditions Sablan must abide with following his release include having no direct contact with any child under the age of 18 without the permission of the probation officer.

Sablan is also prohibited from going to or remaining in any place where children under the age of 18 are likely to be, including parks, schools, playgrounds, and childcare facilities.

Also, the court prohibited Sablan from working in an occupation, business, profession, or volunteer activity that would require or enable him to have direct contact with children under the age of 18 without prior approval of the probation officer.

The court also ordered Sablan to allow the probation officer to install a computer monitoring software on any computer he owns and to submit his computers, or other electronic communications or data storage devices or media, to a search.

In addition, Manglona ordered Sablan to pay a special assessment fee of $100, which must be paid immediately after sentencing.

After the sentencing, Sablan was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

According to documents, Sablan pleaded guilty last June 3, 2021. The court unsealed the indictment against him following his change of plea hearing.

Based on the indictment, Sablan was originally charged with one count of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography back on Jan. 20, 2021.

After pleading guilty to one count of child pornography in June, Manglona dismissed the second charge.

The indictment stated that on or about Jan. 6, 2021, Sablan was found in possession of sexually explicit videos involving minors that he had downloaded over the internet. “On or about Jan. 6, 2021, the defendant knowingly possessed a laptop computer, which contained over 75 video files depicting child pornography,” the document stated.

The indictment also stated that on or about Nov. 4, 2019, Sablan knowingly received child pornography via the internet.