United States Department of Justice

United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello
Northern District of California

OAKLAND – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Carlos D. Araiza, of Pacifica, California, was arraigned on Monday in federal court. Mr. Araiza, who teaches at Terra Nova High School in Pacifica, was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 2, 2008, on one count of receiving child pornography in or about January 2005, and one count of possessing child pornography in or about March 2005. He was arrested on April 3, 2008, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges. A detention hearing is set for tomorrow morning before United States Magistrate Judge Wayne D. Brazil in Oakland, California.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with substantial assistance from the Pacifica Police Department and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division.

The maximum statutory penalty for receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2) is 20 years, with a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence, and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B) is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

An indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Araiza must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Andrew S. Huang is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Lead Legal Assistant Cynthia Daniel.

Further Information:             

Case #: CR08-0214-CW

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 Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.