SEX OFFENDER SENTENCED TO 15 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR FAILURE TO REGISTER IN WISCONSIN

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on July 23, 2024, Chief United States District Judge Pamela Pepper sentenced Celio C. Deluna, aka "Cody Banks," (age: 33) to 15 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for knowingly failing to register as a sex offender as required by federal law. Deluna previously pled guilty to one count of failure to register as a sex offender, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2250(a).

According to court documents, on May 23, 2014, Deluna was convicted in Cook County, Illinois, for Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault Causing Bodily Harm for having sexual intercourse on several occasions with a 13-year-old victim. He was sentenced to six years in prison for that offense. He completed that sentence on May 20, 2019, and signed documents indicating that he understood that he was required to register as a sex offender. However, after he was released from prison, he moved to Oklahoma and did not register as a sex offender. In September 2023, Deluna travelled from Oklahoma to Princeton, Wisconsin, where he began to reside using the alias of "Cody Banks." He was ultimately arrested in Princeton.

In court proceedings, DeLuna admitted to using an alias to circumvent his registration requirements as well as to conceal his status as an immigrant who is not authorized to live in the United States.

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 U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood 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.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karine Moreno-Taxman.

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For Additional Information Contact:

Public Information Officer

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414-297-1700

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