Ponchatoula Man Sentenced For Receipt of Materials Involving the Sexual Exploitation of Minors and For Violation of the Federal Gun Control Act
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced that DANIEL JUSTIN MAHAN, age 43, a resident of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, was sentenced Thursday, March 14, 2019 by United States District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon to 151 months imprisonment, having pleaded guilty to receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors and violation of the Federal Gun Control Act. Upon release from imprisonment, he will serve a 5 year term of supervised release.
According to previously filed court documents, MAHAN was arrested on March 15, 2018, by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) subsequent to the execution of a search warrant at his home. MAHAN was found to be in possession twenty-four (24) weapons and over 26,000 rounds of ammunition. MAHAN has a prior felony conviction for bank robbery which prohibits him from possessing firearms and ammunition. The FBI’s investigation further revealed that MAHAN was also in possession of a laptop computer which contained images depicting the sexual victimization of prepubescent children.
This case, which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tracey N. Knight, 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 tab “resources.”