A former Albuquerque police officer was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison following a child pornography conviction.Nelson Begay, 33, resigned from his position with the Albuquerque Police Department in November. After the resignation, he was arrested and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography.He will be on supervised release for 15 years after completing the prison sentence. Additionally, he’ll have to register has a sex offender.He was indicted and charged with two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography in December.In March he pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the indictment as a part of a plea deal, admitting he used file-sharing software to download and share child pornography, including a video nearly 30 minutes in duration. He was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the victim whose image appears in the aforementioned video.The head of the police union said Begay brought shame to APD and deserves to be in prison.“He was sworn to uphold the law and enforce it, and it's unfortunate that him knowing what the law itself is, took advantage of it,” APOA President Stephanie Lopez said. “I don't condone what he did, and I think it's unfortunate that he embarrassed us as a whole.”APD declined to comment on the sentence.Lopez said justice was done.“Yes I do agree with it,” Lopez said. “And like I said, it's unfortunate he reflected badly on the profession itself and not just the department.” MOBILE USERS: Tap here for video

A former Albuquerque police officer was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison following a child pornography conviction.

Nelson Begay, 33, resigned from his position with the Albuquerque Police Department in November. After the resignation, he was arrested and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography.


He will be on supervised release for 15 years after completing the prison sentence. Additionally, he’ll have to register has a sex offender.

He was indicted and charged with two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography in December.

In March he pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the indictment as a part of a plea deal, admitting he used file-sharing software to download and share child pornography, including a video nearly 30 minutes in duration. He was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to the victim whose image appears in the aforementioned video.

The head of the police union said Begay brought shame to APD and deserves to be in prison.

“He was sworn to uphold the law and enforce it, and it's unfortunate that him knowing what the law itself is, took advantage of it,” APOA President Stephanie Lopez said. “I don't condone what he did, and I think it's unfortunate that he embarrassed us as a whole.”

APD declined to comment on the sentence.

Lopez said justice was done.



“Yes I do agree with it,” Lopez said. “And like I said, it's unfortunate he reflected badly on the profession itself and not just the department.”

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