DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Acting United States Attorney Edward R. Ryan
Western District of North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009

For more information call
704.344.6222
Fax: 704.227.0264

DAVID FRANK PACE SENTENCED TO 135 MONTHS IN PRISON Asheville, NC—David Frank Pace, 58, of Hendersonville, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Asheville today to 135 months in federal prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Edward R. Ryan announced.

David Frank Pace is presently in local federal custody where he has remained since October 2008. Pace will remain in local federal custody until the Federal Bureau of Prisons designates a facility at which he will serve his term of imprisonment. The facility at which he will serve his term of imprisonment has not yet been determined. Following a brief local investigation by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, Pace was indicted federally in October 2008 for attempting to coerce and entice an individual whom he believed had not attained the age of 18, through the use of a computer via the Internet, to engage in sexual activity for which a person could be charged with criminal offenses. After having entered a guilty plea, as charged, to one count of coercion and enticement, Pace faced a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years, up to life. At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Judge Lacy Thornburg, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, also ordered that Pace’s term of imprisonment be followed by a two (2) year term of supervised release and that he must register as a sex offender.

The case arose out of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov .

The case was investigated by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Don Gast and David Thorneloe of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.

US v. DAVID FRANK PACE David Frank Pace, 58 years of age
DOCKET NO. 1:08cr9 Hendersonville, NC