A Rio Grande Valley middle school choir teacher was sentenced to federal prison after receiving child pornography from another Valley resident, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani.

Orlando Diaz-Ramirez, 33, a Mexican citizen, pleaded guilty on Sept. 8, 2023 and admitted to receiving 300 videos of child pornography from 22-year-old Israel Flores, of Los Fresnos, according to Hamdani.

Diaz and Flores were sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Because Diaz is not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings after his sentence.

Hamdani said at the hearing, the court heard that Diaz had an additional eight GB of child pornography on his Dropbox account and that he was employed as a choir teacher at a local middle school.

Diaz and Flores must pay a total of $45,000, respectively, to known victims. They must also register as sex offenders.

Hamdani said after their prison sentence, both men will serve five years of supervised release, during which time they will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict their access to children and the internet. 

"With today’s sentencing, HSI has removed a dangerous child predator from the community," said HSI RGV Deputy Special Agent in Charge Mark Lippa. "Preventing and investigating crimes against children is a high priority for HSI. We will continue to dedicate law enforcement resources to identify and bring to justice child predators who traumatize and victimize children."

Authorities conducted an investigation identifying an individual uploading child pornography to a Dropbox account in October 2020. They were able to link the IP address to Diaz's residence in Donna, according to Hamdani.

Authorities executed a federal search warrant in April 2021 at the Donna residence.

Hamdani said Diaz admitted to downloading child pornography through Kik and uploading it to his Dropbox. He also said he had a USB drive he received from Flores containing child pornography.

Authorities made contact with Flores at his residence in Los Fresnos. He admitted to providing the USB to Diaz, according to Hamdani.

Flores said he used his Kik account to access accounts in Mega, a cloud-based storage and file hosting service, to obtain the child pornography; he then downloaded the material onto the USB drive, according to Hamdani.

Hamdani said the USB drive contained 300 videos of child pornography, including prepubescent minors under the age of 12 engaging in sexual acts with adults.

Diaz and Flores will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.