Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron today sentenced Jason Matthew Zeller (42, Orlando) to 30 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography and for failing to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Zeller had pleaded guilty on October 28, 2019.
According to court documents, on December 16, 2009, Zeller was convicted in the 24th Judicial District Court in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana for possessing pornography involving juveniles. On January 5, 2010, Zeller was sentenced to a term of three years’ imprisonment. Zeller was also required to register as a sex offender following his release from prison.
On January 7, 2019, Zeller was located and arrested in Seminole County, Florida on a Louisiana fugitive warrant. At the time of his arrest, Zeller stated that he had been in the central Florida area for approximately a year and a half, and had been living in the woods in Longwood. Zeller also admitted to accessing the internet via a cellphone, in violation of his conditions of release. Zeller used the mobile device to access various internet applications, which law enforcement has identified as being used for the online exchange of child pornography.
A search and forensics analysis of the cellphone revealed 17 videos and more than 600 images of child pornography, including an image received on December 24, 2018. That image showed a young girl being raped by an adult male.
Following his sex offense conviction in Louisiana, Zeller had an obligation to register in Louisiana and in any state where he later resided. Zeller was supposed to register again in Louisiana on January 1, 2017, but never did because he had absconded. Zeller was supposed to appear in court in Louisiana on January 7, 2017, for a solicitation of a minor charge, but failed to appear.
On January 7, 2019, the United States Marshals Service located Zeller in Altamonte Springs, where he admitted to law enforcement that he had not registered as a sex offender in Florida. A search by law enforcement showed that Zeller neither updated his Louisiana registration with a Florida residence, nor registered as a sex offender in Florida, as required by SORNA.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Marshals Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean P. Shecter.
