Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Transportation of Child Pornography

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JAMES PUCKETT, age 46, of Livingston, Texas, pled guilty today to crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.

PUCKETT admitted to viewing, receiving, and sending child pornography on the Internet using email and a KIK user name.  HSI computer forensic examiners located images depicting the sexual victimization of children on the defendant’s Padfone X Mini after he was encountered by federal agents at Port Fourchon.  The emails distributed by PUCKETT contained images depicting the rape, bondage, and sexual exploitation of pre-pubescent children. 

PUCKETT faces a mandatory minimum sentence of not less than five (5) years and not more than twenty (20) years imprisonment, followed by up to a lifetime term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.  PUCKETT will also be required to register as a sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.   U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey set sentencing for February 21, 2017. 

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 tab “resources.”

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations in investigating this matter.  The prosecution of this case is being handled by Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Fraud Section Chief, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.