Former Hallwood resident pleads guilty to distributing child pornography

By Linda Cicoira

A 2017 graduate of Arcadia High School who garnered one write-in vote for Hallwood’s town council in 2022 continues to be held in federal custody after pleading guilty last week in U.S District Court to distributing child pornography.

A hearing for 24-year-old Andrey Chun Sarmiento, also known as Andrey Chun, a Pennsylvania law student, was held on July 30. According to court records, he admitted guilt in a plea bargain. Details about the agreement were not made available. A pre-sentence report was ordered. Sentencing was set scheduled for October.

Court records state Chun Sarmiento distributed numerous video files depicting adult males engaging in sexually explicit conduct with minors via an encrypted instant messaging application on Feb.13, 2024. The defendant thought he was communicating with a pedophile when he was in contact with an undercover agent to whom he sent “a link to an online folder containing hundreds of videos, many of which depict adult males … abusing prepubescent boys,” the record stated.

The defendant, who has degrees in Economics and International Affairs from JMU in Harrisonburg, where he was a resident advisor and college newspaper opinion and business review writer, was a student at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg, Penn., when the crime occurred.