FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
March 1, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:10-cr-313-JAM

SACRAMENTO-- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that Thomas Neal, 41, of Roseville, pleaded guilty this morning to possessing and receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

            In entering his guilty plea, Neal admitted that in February of last year, he possessed a computer hard drive and several computer disks that contained more than 800 still  images and more than 200 videos, each of which depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Additionally, Neal admitted that on or about June 30, 2009, he downloaded a video depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct from the internet.  According to court documents, many of the images and videos Neal possessed depicted known and previously identified children whose abuse images were produced outside California.  As set forth in the plea agreement, Neal agreed to forfeit the computer equipment he used to commit both offenses.

           Neal’s case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Executive Assistant United States Attorney Laurel D. White is prosecuting the case.

            Neal faces a maximum sentence of 20-years for the receipt charge, along with a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and a lifetime term of supervised release.  The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.  Neal is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez on May 17, 2011 at 9:30 a.m.
                                                                                                           
            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationawide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.   Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.   For  additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

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