Press Releases
NEW ORLEANS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
June 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MICHAEL WRIGHT, 53, of New Orleans, Louisiana, pled guilty in federal court before U. S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt to charges involving possession of child pornography, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten today.
According to documents filed in federal court, on March 26, 2009, federal agents executed a federal search warrant at WRIGHT’s Nashville Avenue home and found the defendant in possession of 2 computers and approximately 35 discs that contained approximately 30,000 images and videos depicting the sexual victimization of children. WRIGHT admitted that he had been receiving child pornography via the Internet for approximately three years.
WRIGHT faces a maximum sentence of ten (10) years in federal prison. Upon his release from custody he will be placed on supervised release up to a term of life, be required to give a DNA sample, and will have to register as a sex offender. WRIGHT was last employed by the Orleans Parish School Board in 2003 according to a financial affidavit completed by the defendant in March, 2009. Sentencing is scheduled for September 23, 2009 at 9:00 A..M.
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 investigation of this case was conducted by Special Agents of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Assistant U. S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.
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