Press Releases
LOCAL ATTORNEY PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND TWO OTHERS SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON
December 12, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAYER FINKELSTEIN, age 64, a resident of uptown New Orleans, pled guilty in federal court to the federal felony of Possession of Materials Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors; also MICHAEL LARRIEU, 19, of New Orleans, and CHRISTOPHER BLAND, 22, of Hammond, were both sentenced to federal prison as a result of their guilty pleas for Possession of Materials Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors, announced today U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
Local attorney MAYER FINKELSTEIN entered a guilty plea to Possession of Child Pornography. A conviction for Possession of Child Pornography carries with it a maximum term of imprisonment of ten (10) years, a fine of $250,000.00, and term of supervised release up to life following any term of imprisonment, and Sexual Offender Registration.
According to documents filed in federal court, on May 14, 2007, FBI agents executed federal search warrants on MAYER FINKELSTEIN’s home and law office. During these searches, FBI agents recovered computers and computer related media that contained over 600 images depicting the sexual victimization of prepubescent children (less than 12 years of age). In interviews with FBI agents, FINKELSTEIN admitted that he had subscribed to Internet child pornography websites and had attempted to access a child pornography website as recently as April 2007.
MAYER FINKELSTEIN will be sentenced on March 5, 2008 by U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance. He is currently under court ordered supervision by the U.S. Office of Pretrial Services as a term and condition of his bond.
Also announced today, are the two separate sentencings for CHRISTOPHER BLAND and MICHAEL LARRIEU, both for possession of child pornography.
BLAND pled guilty to possession of child pornography on September 5, 2007. BLAND was sentenced by U. S. District Judge Sarah Vance to sixty-three (63) months in prison, placed on supervised release for life, and required to register as a Sex Offender. He was also ordered to provide a DNA sample, have no computer access and no unsupervised visits with children under the age of 18.
According to court documents, BLAND was arrested after FBI agents executed a federal search warrant on his Hammond home. FBI computer forensic examiners and the FBI case agent found approximately 2,400 images and 43 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children less than 12 years old on BLAND’s home computer. BLAND told FBI agents that he used a Peer-to-Peer software to download his child pornography with specific search terms to limit his search for pre-teen images.
Also today, MICHAEL LARRIEU, was sentenced by U. S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle to a term of imprisonment of forty (40) months followed by a term of supervised release for life. He will also be required to register as a Sex Offender, provide a DNA sample, have no computer access, and no unsupervised visits with children under the age of 18.
Court documents reflect that on October 11, 2006, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s Gretna home. Agents seized computer and related equipment that contained approximately 87 images and 12 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children. LARRIEU told FBI agents that he used various Peer-to-Peer software to search for and download images of child pornography.
The U. S. Attorney’s Office has a long and successful history of working closely with federal agencies such as the FBI, who investigated these cases announced today. These important prosecutions fall under the U. S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood (PSC) Program which combats computer facilitated crimes and those individuals who target, put at risk, or exploit children. Consistent with the goals of PSC, the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District for Louisiana has also established partnerships with state and local law enforcement to lend support to state and local agencies in prosecuting these predatory offenders.
According to U. S. Attorney Jim Letten:
“At any given time, there are approximately 50,000 predators on the Internet who seek to inflict harm on our children. As a result, and consistent with goals and objectives of Project Safe Childhood Initiative, the U. S. Attorney’s Office has formed partnerships with both state and local law enforcement agencies to promote the PSC program. Federal prosecutors are openly communicating and working with state and local law enforcement officials to determine if certain offenders should be prosecuted in federal court in order to achieve the greatest potential sentence for the most dangerous offenders.”
For more details about PSC please visit the PSC website at http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
These investigations were conducted by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecutions were handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Assistant United States Attorney Brian M. Klebba.
)
