CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A Marine whose encounter with an online predator-hunting group sparked an NCIS investigation earlier this year has pleaded guilty at a general court-martial to distributing child pornography and was sentenced to 40 months in confinement and a bad-conduct discharge, according to newly available military court records.
Abdiel J. Cortesdiaz, who was a private first class (E-2) assigned to 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division when The Salty Soldier first reported on the case in January, was sentenced July 15, 2026, following a judge-alone general court-martial convened by 2nd Marine Division.
Cortesdiaz pleaded guilty at his court-martial to distributing child pornography, and the military judge found him guilty. Other charges — including attempted sexual abuse of a child involving indecent communication, solicitation, and possessing, receiving or viewing child pornography — were dropped as part of the case. Those charges can technically be brought again until the appeals process is completed, but if his conviction and sentence are upheld, the dismissals become permanent.
The sentence included 40 months of confinement, a bad-conduct discharge, total forfeiture of pay and allowances and reduction to E-1. Cortesdiaz received credit for 189 days spent in pretrial confinement. The sentence was imposed pursuant to a plea agreement that required those punishments and prohibited other lawful punishments from being imposed.
The court record also indicates that sex-offender registration is required.
The result provides the first definitive resolution of a case that began publicly under considerably murkier circumstances.
Cortesdiaz first came to public attention after online content creator Alex Rosen, founder of Predator Poachers, confronted a man he identified as Abdiel Cortes in Jacksonville, North Carolina, on Jan. 5.
Rosen alleged during a livestream that the Marine had engaged in inappropriate online communications with someone he believed was a minor. Rosen also made additional allegations involving illegal sexual material.
Rosen made additional allegations about the nature and volume of the child sexual abuse material he claimed Cortesdiaz discussed viewing and sharing. Those allegations are so graphic and disturbing that The Salty Soldier cannot publish them in this report.
However, the specific allegations may be viewed in The Salty Soldier’s uncensored reporting, available exclusively to subscribers.
At the time, The Salty Soldier stressed that the allegations had not been independently verified and that neither civilian nor military authorities had announced criminal charges.
The Marine Corps subsequently confirmed the man’s full identity as PFC Abdiel J. Cortesdiaz and confirmed that he was assigned to 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division.
The circumstances surrounding what happened immediately after the confrontation proved difficult to establish.
Video circulating online appeared to show Cortesdiaz being detained, but the Onslow County Detention Center told The Salty Soldier that he had not been booked into the county jail. Searches of North Carolina court records at the time also revealed no civilian criminal case.
As The Salty Soldier continued investigating, the paper trail became even stranger.
The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office later reported finding no responsive records concerning Cortesdiaz. Jacksonville Police Department Records Clerk Alyssa Grace separately told The Salty Soldier, “At this time I am not showing any interaction with the individual listed below.”
That appeared to conflict with an earlier statement from 2nd Marine Division, which had said the incident was being investigated by both Jacksonville Police Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
After The Salty Soldier sought clarification, 2nd Marine Division narrowed its description of the civilian role.
“Initial coordination occurred with local officials however; the incident is now fully being investigated by NCIS,” 2ndLt Daniel R. Starozytnyk, a communications officer with 2nd Marine Division, told The Salty Soldier.
The newly available court-martial result now confirms that the investigation ultimately led to a military prosecution.
The disposition is important because Cortesdiaz was not convicted of every allegation initially brought against him.
Military records show an attempted sexual abuse of a child charge involving indecent communication under Article 80 was withdrawn and dismissed. A solicitation charge under Article 82 was likewise withdrawn and dismissed.
Under Article 134, Cortesdiaz faced two child-pornography specifications. He pleaded not guilty to a specification alleging possession, receipt or viewing of child pornography, and that specification was withdrawn and dismissed.
He pleaded guilty to the second specification — distribution of child pornography — and was convicted on that charge.
The distinction is significant given how the case initially became public. The January confrontation involved allegations about communications with someone believed to be a minor, but the offense that ultimately resulted in Cortesdiaz’s conviction was distribution of child pornography.
The records currently available to The Salty Soldier do not establish precisely what evidence supported the distribution conviction, whether the material was discovered as a direct result of the January confrontation, or what role information provided by Rosen and Predator Poachers played in the NCIS investigation.
Those questions remain unanswered.
The plea agreement left little discretion regarding punishment.
According to the Statement of Trial Results, the agreement required a bad-conduct discharge, 40 months in confinement, total forfeitures and reduction to E-1. No fine or additional lawful punishment was to be imposed. Cortesdiaz received 189 days of credit toward his confinement for time already spent in pretrial confinement.
Marine Corps Lt. Col. Patrick B. Martin presided over the judge-alone court-martial and signed the trial results July 15.
The publicly available court file also contains an Entry of Judgment and sections reserved for appellate proceedings. At the time of the version reviewed by The Salty Soldier, the file states there were no appellate motions, appellate briefs or remands.
The conviction resolves the central question that remained unanswered when The Salty Soldier first reported the story: military authorities did ultimately prosecute Cortesdiaz.
It does not, however, answer how investigators got there.
No additional court records have been released that shed light on the evidence behind the case, and NCIS did not provide any documents in response to The Salty Soldier’s previous records request. The Salty Soldier is preparing additional requests and will continue pushing the Marine Corps and NCIS for the release of records that could provide a clearer picture of the investigation and how the case developed.
Those records could also provide a clearer account of why civilian agencies reported no records or interaction despite the Marine Corps initially describing Jacksonville police as participating in the investigation.
For now, what began in January as an unverified allegation broadcast across social media has ended in a military conviction: Cortesdiaz admitted to distributing child pornography and received a 40-month sentence, reduction to the lowest enlisted grade and a bad-conduct discharge.
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