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https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/08/rnc-staffer-child-porn-case-00024031
Ex-RNC staffer gets more than 12 years in prison in child porn case
Probe that snared Ruben Verastigui allegedly involved at least 18 others, including a former Commerce Department aide.
A former GOP staffer and Republican National Committee aide who admitted to being part of a ring that traded child pornography involving babies was sentenced Thursday to more than 12-and-a-half years in prison Thursday.
Ruben Verastigui, 29, received the 151-month sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta during a hearing held via video conference, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.
Verastigui was a digital strategist for the RNC in 2017 and 2018, working on social media advertising for political committees backing former President Donald Trump, according to Verastigui’s LinkedIn page. The digital strategist also worked for the Senate Republican Conference and for a nonprofit group called Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. An anti-abortion activist originally from San Antonio, Verastigui spoke at the March for Life in Washington in 2013, according to a video clip posted online.
Mehta’s sentence for Verastigui was seven months more than the minimum of the range of 144 months to 188 months permitted under a plea deal he struck with prosecutors last year. When Mehta accepted the guilty plea last July, he indicated he was not binding himself to that range and might reject the deal, returning the case for trial. But at Thursday’s court session, the judge agreed to a sentence within those parameters.
Ex-RNC staffer gets more than 12 years in prison in child porn case
Probe that snared Ruben Verastigui allegedly involved at least 18 others, including a former Commerce Department aide.
A former GOP staffer and Republican National Committee aide who admitted to being part of a ring that traded child pornography involving babies was sentenced Thursday to more than 12-and-a-half years in prison Thursday.
Ruben Verastigui, 29, received the 151-month sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta during a hearing held via video conference, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.
Verastigui was a digital strategist for the RNC in 2017 and 2018, working on social media advertising for political committees backing former President Donald Trump, according to Verastigui’s LinkedIn page. The digital strategist also worked for the Senate Republican Conference and for a nonprofit group called Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. An anti-abortion activist originally from San Antonio, Verastigui spoke at the March for Life in Washington in 2013, according to a video clip posted online.
Mehta’s sentence for Verastigui was seven months more than the minimum of the range of 144 months to 188 months permitted under a plea deal he struck with prosecutors last year. When Mehta accepted the guilty plea last July, he indicated he was not binding himself to that range and might reject the deal, returning the case for trial. But at Thursday’s court session, the judge agreed to a sentence within those parameters.
