Tyndall Air Force Base airman indicted on federal charges for distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography under Project Safe Childhood.
Matthew Fooladian, 24, of Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, was indicted by a federal grand jury charging him with one count of receipt/attempted receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution/attempted distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession/access with intent to view child pornography. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the charges today.
Fooladian appeared for his arraignment in federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick in Tallahassee, Florida. Jury trial is scheduled for March 23, 2026, at 8:30 am before District Court Judge Mark E. Walker.
If convicted, Fooladian faces a mandatory minimum 5 years’ imprisonment and up to 20 years’ imprisonment on the receipt count; a mandatory minimum 5 years’ imprisonment and up to 20 years’ imprisonment on the distribution count; and up to 20 years’ imprisonment on the possession count.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Assistant United States Attorneys Meredith L. Steer and Joseph Ravelo are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access available public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.
Reports are sourced from official documents, law-enforcement updates, and credible investigations.
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