NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

SEPTEMBER 10, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FLORIDA MAN SENTENCED FOR ATTEMPTING TO

ENTICE A MINOR FOR ILLICIT SEX

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Jacksonville, Fla., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to entice a minor over the Internet for illicit sex.

Billy G. Hicks, Jr., 44, of Jacksonville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple this morning to five years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Hicks to forfeit to the government a laptop computer, a CD containing child pornography and a cellular flip-phone.

On April 18, 2007, Hicks pleaded guilty to attempting to entice a minor for illicit sex. Hicks admitted that he initially contacted an undercover FBI agent posing as a 13-year-old girl in an Internet chat room called “wants2tryyungfem” on Jan. 18, 2005. Between Jan. 18 and Feb. 6, 2005, Hicks continued to communicate with “Amber” via instant messaging. Hicks said he wanted to engage in a variety of sexual acts with her and would be willing to travel to Kansas City. Hicks also engaged in several telephone conversations with another law enforcement officer who also pretended to be Amber.

On Feb. 5, 2005, Hicks traveled from Jacksonville to Kansas City via Northwest Airlines. He was arrested by federal law enforcement officers as he waited aboard an airplane that arrived at Kansas City International Airport.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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