In a significant crackdown on child sexual exploitation, eight individuals, including seven Florida residents, have been arrested in connection with an international child pornography ring. The announcement came during a news conference in Tampa on Monday, April 7, 2025, led by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, alongside Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Commissioner Mark Glass and FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell. Uthmeier described the material involved as “truly heinous,” underscoring the severity of the crimes uncovered in this investigation. Uthmeier stated, “There’s not a word in the English dictionary that can describe the gross content that was on the videos our investigators have been able to get their hands on.“
Spanning multiple jurisdictions and countries, the investigation targeted a network accused of producing, distributing, and purchasing child sex abuse material (CSAM) online. The 10-month investigation uncovered over one million videos and images depicting the abuse of minors, including infants, reiterating the scale and depravity of the criminal enterprise. “I can’t tell you in words how gross this content is,” Uthmeier stated during the press conference. “It shows the dangers, the evil that is out there. It is truly evil.”
The FDLE spearheaded the investigation and later coordinated with federal authorities. The investigation began when an undercover agent stumbled upon a public-facing website called tributeprintedpics.com which was trafficking CSAM. It was part of FDLE’s ongoing “undercover proactive review of websites.” The discovery led investigators to a complex web of individuals involved in the sale and dissemination of illicit pornographic material involving American children. FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell, explained the importance of the case:
“It’s one of those cases where you gonna look back 10 years from now and say I really made some change…in July of 2024, our agents were working proactively on the Internet looking for individuals that like to sell and distribute child pornography. And our agent found a chat room where he’s speaking to an individual who directed him to a website called tributeprintedpics.com, which is on the Internet, not the dark web, it’s the straight Internet.”
“So our undercover agent went there and began a conversation with an unknown individual who wanted to sell him child pornography. At the end of the day, our agent purchased 6.7 terabytes of child pornography for– here’s the price– $100.00. So I’m going to put that into context. That’s 6.7 terabytes or 1.2 million videos and pictures of some of the most egregious, disgusting content we’ve ever seen. My agent has done this for a long time and he came to me after that purchase, having to view some of that stuff and said, ‘Boss said it was awful.’ It was awful for him to say that,– It had to be really bad.”
FDLE acted swiftly, seizing and shutting down the website within two days of identifying the activity there.
Brutnell explained the investigation began to bear fruit when they investigated Krunal Kumar Nareshbhai Modi of New Jersey. Modi was allegedly a money mule for the organization and the team executed a search and arrest warrant at his residence, resulting in the scrubbing of his electronics. Brutnell said, “It produced a treasure trove of evidence” and was “where the case really started to take off.” Modi faces a potential 65-year sentence for racketeering conspiracy and money laundering tied to the operation.
The New Jersey search also uncovered the orchestrator behind the operation, a Turkish national named Mehmet Berk Bozuyuk, who had an unbelievable knack for covering his tracks. Using the pseudonym, John DeVille or sometimes simply “John,” Bozuyuk “was very deliberate in hiding his identity. Brutnell continued, “He utilized multiple layers of VPN’s, money mules, obviously burner accounts, burner phones. He also used a lot of stolen personal identification information that he would steal off the web to send money through different channels. He really, really believed that he could outsmart us, but the end of the day he didn’t. He tried to profit on this horrific abuse of children, but we caught him.” Bozuyuk is the father of two children.
Please view below the partial screenshot from the press conference showing the flow chart illustrating Bozuyuk’s intricate attempts to mask his identity with VPNs and multiple burner phones:
Other suspects have been identified nationwide and internationally. According to the Uthmeier’s April 2 press release,
“Investigators also isolated individuals who took part in the operation to profit from the sale of CSAM. At least four individuals served as money mules, accepting money from buyers in Florida, then pocketing a percentage of the total and sending the remainder to Bozuyuk, the ringleader in Turkey. Bozuyuk then filtered the money by purchasing access to unsuspecting victims’ financial accounts through the dark web before taking possession.”
Arrest warrants have been issued for Bozuyuk and Xiomara Del Real Maqueda. According to the press release:
“Law enforcement issued additional arrest warrants for Bozuyuk and Xiomara Del Real Maqueda in Oregon. Bozuyuk is charged with RICO, conspiracy to commit RICO, money laundering, 13 counts of promotion of sexual performance by a child 10 images or more, 11 counts of selling child pornography, 13 counts of out-of-state transmission of child pornography by electronic device, 13 counts of distribution of obscene material, and nine counts of use of two-way communication device. Maqueda is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
One of the Florida residents charged is Frankie Pineiro Jr. from Groveland. Pineiro faces accusations of conspiracy to commit racketeering, purchasing child pornography, and the use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony. If convicted, Pineiro could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.
Sadly, AG Uthmeier revealed that individuals who engage in child sexual exploitation too frequently receive lenient sentences that fail to deter them from committing the same crimes over and over again. Uthmeier explained:
“Pineiro was listed as a sex offender. He was currently on probation from a 2019 child pornography arrest by our office in Orlando,” said Uthmeier. “He got a very light slap on the wrist and was sentenced to 20 years of probation. He bought a large amount of this disgusting content from our guy John, and it was on his phone.”
Uthmeier also shared that another suspect named Brett Allen Snodderly purchased content and had children’s underwear at his residence. He explained that while Snodderly “is not a hands on offender,” investigators found he was “very tech savvy and had a ton of hidden content on his phone.” Uthmeier further elaborated that while they had seized already Snodderly’s phone, “About seven days later, we get an arrest warrant…we have Clearwater PD go pick him up…and what does he have?–A new phone with even more child pornography on it.”
A screenshot of the eight arrested alleged perpetrators is shown below:
The investigation revealed that many of the suspects accessed the material through mainstream social media platforms, including TikTok. Calling for accountability, Uthmeier expressed alarm at the growing accessibility of such content online. He highlighted the hypocrisy of sites like TikTok that manage to quickly remove unlicensed music from their platforms but seem to take their own sweet time when it comes to removing pornographic material. “The internet and social media have made this kind of evil more accessible than ever,” he warned.
The takedown of CSAM rings is a top priority for Uthmeier, who is only six weeks into his new job as Attorney General. Uthmeier replaced Ashley Moody who was appointed by Governor DeSantis to replace Senator Marco Rubio in Congress. Rubio is now serving in his role as Secretary of State for the Trump administration.
Quoting the 2023 National Center for Missing and Exploited Children report, Uthmeier explained that there were “over 36 million instances of suspected child sexual exploitation and over 100 million files related to child sex abuse material.” He emphasized repeatedly the need for accountability for harmful online content relating to the abuse of children. “If you are a child predator,” Uthmeier continued, “If you are one of these sick people, then I hope you never see the sun again and I hope you certainly never have access to kids again. So we will continue that fight.”
As with the recent Europol takedown of KidFlix, this operation was also highly collaborative. FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass stated that the collaborative effort between state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies had made the arrests possible. “This case is a testament to what we can achieve when we work together to protect the most vulnerable among us,” Glass said. He added that the undercover operation was meticulous, ensuring that each suspect was identified and evidence was meticulously gathered. According to Uthmeier, additional suspects have been identified in connection with the operation but have not yet been arrested.
FreedomForever.us partners with a number of organizations such as Protect Young Eyes, Covenant Eyes, VidAngel, Troomi, The Mama Bear Effect, and others to help protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Freedom Forever is an all-volunteer organization that focuses its energy and time on preserving the innocence and safety of children. Freedom Forever is now also offering crisis support for survivors and families. Please call the Crisis Resource Line at 615.307.0152 or email our resource specialist at Starr@FreedomForever.us.
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