Victor Alvelo, former NYC sanitation chief, arrested on child pornography charges

Victor Alvelo, 61, a former General Superintendent of the New York City Department of Sanitation who retired in August 2025, was arrested on Tuesday on federal child‑pornography charges. A search warrant executed at his Bronx residence resulted in the seizure of 14 electronic devices, including a USB flash drive hidden in the front pocket of a DSNY‑branded jacket. The drive and other media contained hundreds of images and videos depicting pre‑pubescent children, some as young as infants, which prosecutors say Alvelo had stored since August 2022.

Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York allege the material was shared via a peer‑to‑peer network linked to Alvelo’s home IP address. Acting Special Agent Pete Gizas of the Department of Homeland Security’s Child Exploitation Investigations Unit said Alvelo “betrayed the trust placed in him by the city and the public.” Alvelo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted.