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Louisiana judge hands Indian national 10-year sentence
Federal court ordered prison, supervision, restitution and sex offender registration.
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Ankita Baidya - Thu, 09, Jul 2026
- 03:38 EDT
- 64
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A federal judge sentenced Ashish Kapoor to 121 months in prison. / Representative Photo/File Photo
Ashish Kapoor, 28, a national of India also known as "Romy Kapoor," was sentenced July 8 for transportation and possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle of the Eastern District of Louisiana announced in a statement.
Kapoor was convicted under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, Sections 2252(a)(1), (a)(4)(B), (b)(1), and (b)(2), according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
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According to court documents, Kapoor traveled from Mumbai to New Orleans on or about Feb. 21, 2024, carrying a cellphone containing digital videos and images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Authorities said Kapoor also downloaded illegal material from an internet address associated with his New Orleans residence on April 11, 2024. He was arrested Dec. 20, 2024, by special agents with the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations unit and officers with the New Orleans Police Department.
In a recorded statement following his arrest, Kapoor admitted to viewing and receiving such material through WhatsApp on his phone and acknowledged possessing several hundred illegal images, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
U.S. District Judge Greg G. Guidry sentenced Kapoor to 121 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $200 along with $3,000 in restitution to a victim.
Kapoor will also be required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act upon his release.
The case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The initiative is led by U.S. attorneys' offices across the country in coordination with the Justice Department's Criminal Division and its Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and works to identify, apprehend and prosecute offenders while rescuing victims.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the New Orleans Police Department, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria M. Carboni, who leads the office's Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force.
Courcelle was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana on Dec. 29, 2025, after being nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate, according to the Justice Department. He oversees federal prosecutions across 13 parishes in southeastern Louisiana, the department said.
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