FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
April 13, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:12-cr-73-GEB

            SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Phillip J. Colwell, 52, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to producing child pornography, transmitting obscene matter to a minor, and using a cell phone to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual conduct.

            According to court documents, in October 2011, Colwell engaged in a series of cell phone text conversations with a 14-year-old Sacramento boy identified as Victim 1, to whom he sent sexually explicit images and with whom he sought to engage in sexual conduct. Colwell acknowledged he encouraged Victim 1 to produce sexually explicit images of himself to send to him. Colwell also admitted that in July 2011, he engaged in sex acts with a 16-year-old Sacramento boy, identified as Victim 2 and produced sexually explicit photos of the boy. He then uploaded the photos to a website in order to promote the commercial sex trafficking of the boy.

            Colwell is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29, 2012 by United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. The penalty for using a cell phone to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual conduct is 10 years to life in prison. Using a minor to produce child pornography carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison. Transmitting obscene matter to a minor carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A $250,000 fine for each count and a life term of supervised release is possible. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

            This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI’s Sacramento-based Innocence Lost Task Force, the Sacramento Police Department, and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office. Assistant United States Attorney Laurel D. White is prosecuting the case.

            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 Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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