Two men from Brownsville were sentenced after pleading guilty in separate cases of possessing thousands of images of child pornography.

The heaviest of the sentences went toward Gene Surf Silva, 23, who pleaded guilty to the possession charge in March.

An investigation into Silva revealed that he had 1,400 images of child pornography. Six hundred of those images, and an additional 11 videos, were of a minor in Sugar Land, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“The investigation revealed he had possibly acted on his impulses and victimized a child,” the news release stated.

Silva was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender and pay $15,000 in restitution to five known victims, according to the release.

Following his sentence, Silva is to serve 20 years of supervised release where his access to the internet and children will be restricted.

Alvaro Vega-Rodriguez, 27, pleaded guilty to a possession charge in February, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. An investigation that began in 2019 revealed his computer had approximately 1,488 images and 121 videos of child pornography.

On Wednesday, Vega-Rodriguez was sentenced to serve a 78-month sentence in federal prison followed by 20 years of supervised release. Like Silva, Vega-Rodriguez will register as a sex offender and serve 20 years of supervised release following his prison sentence where his access to the internet and children will be restricted.

Both men remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future, the releases stated.