Redwood City driving school owner convicted in child porn case gets 18 year prison term
REDWOOD CITY – The owner of a driving school on the Peninsula was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after being convicted of coercing teen girls to produce child pornography, prosecutors said.
According to Northern California U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey, Johnnatan Zelaya Izaguirre of San Mateo was sentenced by a district judge Tuesday. Earlier this year, Zelaya pleaded guilty to charges of coercion and enticement of a minor, along with charges of receiving, possessing and distributing child pornography.
In his plea agreement, Zelaya admitted that between 2013 and early 2022 he recruited girls between 14 and 17 years old to create sexually explicit images. Zelaya also admitted to having sex with at least two of the victims.
Prosecutors said Zelaya recruited his victims through his driving school in Redwood City and through his social media accounts on Instagram and Snapchat, offering to "manage" the sales of their videos.
"He told his victims about the content that customers wanted, how much the customers were willing to pay, and how much the minor should expect to make from videos," the U.S. Attorney's office said in a statement.
Zelaya was arrested in January 2022. At the time of his arrest, Zelaya was found to be in possession of more than 40 videos and 10 photographs of his victims, along with photos of additional unidentified girls.
Along with the prison term, Zelaya was ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release once he is out of prison.
Prosecutors said Zelaya was immediately remanded into custody Tuesday.