SAN DIEGO - A Miramar-based Marine helicopter pilot who distributed images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in federal prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.

According to his guilty plea, Joshua Taylor, 28, admitted distributing the child porn images on May 12, 2010, and Nov. 7, 2011.

He was arrested last May 31 at MCAS Miramar.

Taylor's case stems from an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino sentenced Taylor to 87 months in custody, followed by 10 years of supervised release.