An Albuquerque man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to child sex crimes that investigators say came to light when Google flagged one of his accounts for uploading images of children in sexual positions. Mario Leyba pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual contact and one count of sexual exploitation of children before his sentencing this week.
According to KRQE, the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office said it was first notified by Google that an account owned by Leyba had been flagged for uploading several images of children in sexual positions. That tip, reported to have come in 2025, set off the investigation that ultimately led to his arrest and prosecution.
Detectives told the station they also recovered a hard drive containing additional photos during the investigation, and they said Leyba had created at least four of the images himself. Those findings formed a central part of the case that followed Leyba through the courts over the past year.
From Grand Jury to Guilty Plea
Before the case reached a plea deal, a grand jury determined there was enough evidence for it to proceed to trial, the station reported in earlier coverage of the case. Leyba eventually entered his guilty plea in July, standing before Judge Joseph Montano to read the plea aloud, according to the station's reporting on that hearing.
At the time of his plea, Leyba faced up to 10 years in prison, the maximum tied to the charges he admitted to. The sentence handed down this week matched that maximum exposure.
Other New Mexico Cases Carry Steeper Sentences
Leyba's case is not the only child exploitation sentencing to surface in New Mexico recently. A New Mexico Department of Justice press release said a Second Judicial District Court judge sentenced Timothy Houle, a father accused of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material containing images of his own young child, to the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, according to the New Mexico Department of Justice.
In a separate case, the U.S. Attorney's Office said a Navajo, New Mexico man was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for systematically sexually exploiting a minor through text messages and social media communications. Both cases were handled separately from Leyba's and involved different courts and charges.
Leyba's sentencing closes out a case that moved from a tech company's automated flag to a grand jury indictment to a guilty plea and now a decade-long prison term. The station's report did not detail further proceedings beyond the sentencing.
