A Granite City man was sentenced in federal district court on June 25, 2012, for Distribution of Child Pornography (Count 1) and Possession of Child Pornography (Count 2), the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Mikhail E. Reinhardt, 23, of Granite City, Illinois, also agreed to the forfeiture of the computers used to commit the charged offenses. Reinhardt was sentenced to 200 months’ imprisonment on Count 1 and 120 months’ imprisonment on Count 2, to run concurrently; 10 years’ supervised release on both counts, also to run concurrently; fined $150 on each count, for a total fine of $300, and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment. Reinhardt pled guilty to the two-count Information on February 24, 2012.

The violation charged in Count 1 occurred on June 15, 2009, when an officer conducting an undercover operation identified Reinhardt’s computer as one offering to distribute child pornography. The officer downloaded 3 images and 3 video files from the computer, all of which depicted child pornography. One of the images downloaded on that date was the image described in Count 1 of the Information. Further investigation led the officers to the residence Reinhardt shared with his parents in Granite City.

The violation charged in Count 2 occurred on August 13, 2009, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the Granite City residence. Among the items seized was a Dell Dimension, Model E520, mini-tower desktop computer and a Dell, Studio 1737, laptop computer. A forensic review of the mini-tower personal computer revealed over 1,000 image and video files containing child pornography. A forensic review of the laptop computer revealed eleven (11) image and video files depicting child pornography.

Reinhardt provided a voluntary statement to law enforcement officers in which he admitted downloading and possessing child pornography, stating that he had been into child pornography for approximately 2 years. Reinhardt estimated that he had 800 to 900 files depicting child pornography on the Dell Dimension desktop computer, and that he had most likely previewed each file prior to downloading it. He said that he generally waited for an image or video file to download, and that, while it was downloading, he would preview it. He said that, if the file was something he wanted to keep, he would continue the download, but if he did not want to keep the file, he would delete the download. Reinhardt also admitted that he knew he was sharing child pornography files with other individuals.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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