Hyattsville Man Sentenced to over 6 Years in Prison for Distributing and Possessing Child Pornography
Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Daniel Cardwell, age 28, of Hyattsville, Maryland, today to 77 months in prison followed by supervised release for life for distributing and possessing child pornography. Judge Williams ordered that upon his release from prison, Cardwell must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.
According to the plea agreement, from October 4, 2010 to May 4, 2011, Cardwell used a file share program to distribute 1,298 files depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On May 10, 2011, after identifying Cardwell as the individual distributing the images, the Maryland State Police executed a search warrant at Cardwell’s home and seized computers and hard drives containing 57 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or its online tip form at http://www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore and Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas, who prosecuted the case.
