A Hammond man who claimed to be a "sovereign citizen" and not subject to federal or state laws was convicted of possessing child pornography, including images of children under the age of 2, according to 21st Judicial District Attorney Scott Perrilloux.

Frederick Murray, 63, was found guilty Thursday by a jury and faces from ten to 40 years in prison, Perrilloux said in a news release issued Monday.

Agents from the FBI Terrorism Unit and the Hammond Police Department began investigating Murray in April 2018 after he filed documents with the 21st Judicial District Court in a case involving his failure to register as a a sex offender.

In those documents, Murray calls himself a "Constitutional Citizen/national ... domiciled in the Constitutional but not statutory 'State' of the union and not a 'citizen' of the 'United State of America.'"

The FBI says sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that "even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States."

"As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement," an FBI article from 2010 says.

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A search warrant was issued for electronic devices that could have been used to create what agents said were false documents Murray filed with the court.

Devices found in Murray's room in Hammond were reviewed by agents from the FBI Terrorism Unit, who found more than 700 images of child pornography, many of infant females.

Twenty-first Judicial District Judge Jeff Johnson is expected to hand down a sentence April 30, the release says.

Murray also faces charges of failing to register as a sex offender. A court document says he was previously convicted in 1992 of rape of a child under 16.