BOISE – Clyde Melvin Priest, III, 37, of Nampa, Idaho, was sentenced today to 15 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for failure to register as a sex offender, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Priest to serve 100 hours of community service following his release from prison. He pled guilty in April 2012.

Priest was required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act by virtue of his 2002 conviction the crime of possession of child pornography in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

According to the plea agreement, on February 3, 2011, after Priest failed to comply with sex registration requirements, the Canyon County prosecuting attorney charged him with failure to register as a sex offender, a violation of Idaho State law. Priest pled guilty and was sentenced on May 2, 2011; he was released from the Canyon County jail on August 27, 2011. Priest failed to report to his probation officer at the Idaho Department of Correction, Division of Community Corrections, as he had been instructed and was listed as a fugitive. He was arrested by United States Marshals in Olalla, Washington, on February 23, 2012.

The case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Idaho Sex Offender Watch Task Force.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), which was passed by Congress in 2006, requires sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction where they reside, are employed or are students. Violations of SORNA can be prosecuted in federal court.