DENVER – A 58-year-old Huerfano County man was sentenced Friday for making false statements to get a passport while he was out on bail for child porn possession.
Ronald Horner, 58, was sentenced to 27 months in prison Friday. Horner was indicted by a grand jury in March 2017 and he was found guilty in June 2018 following a one-day trial.
Prosecutors said Horner was indicted in 2016 for transporting child pornography in Montana. When he was released on bond he was told to surrender his passport and that he could not apply for another one.
“This case demonstrates why keeping our passport system secure is so important,” said U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer in a news release. “By lying to get a new passport, a person charged with child porn crimes was able to travel to 5 other countries while he was under indictment. We can’t and won’t allow that.”
In September 2016, prosecutors said Horner left Colorado and traveled to Mexico, and to multiple countries in South America. Authorities said he was deported from Guyana to Trinidad and Tobago where the passport was confiscated and he was eventually transported back to the United States where he was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
The judge ordered his 27-month sentence will be served consecutively with his previous sentence.
