former waterloo man faces federal child pornography charges
Contact: Peter Deegan
Martin Weeks, age 42, formerly of Waterloo, Iowa, and now of New York, has been indicted on federal child pornography charges. The charges are contained in an Indictment unsealed February 14, 2011, in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids.
The Indictment alleges that, between November 2007 and February 2008, Weeks knowingly received and possessed child pornography. The Indictment also alleges that, in April 2008, he altered, destroyed, and concealed electronic data with the intent to impede, obstruct, and influence the investigation of crimes.
If convicted on all charges, Weeks faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 50 years’ imprisonment, $750,000 in fines, $300 in special assessments, and at least 5 years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment.
Weeks appeared on February 17, 2011, in federal court in Cedar Rapids and was released on bond. Weeks’ next appearance for trial is set for April 11, 2011.
As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 10-2053.
