Milwaukee Man Sentenced to 40 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child Pornography

United States Attorney James L. Santelle announced that Elia V. Orlando, (age: 26) of  Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release for four counts of production of child pornography. Each count involved a separate child between the ages of two and three years.  It should be noted that on March 4, 2010, Orlando was convicted of Possession of Child Pornography in state court.

According to documents released in court, on August 1, 2013, Orlando inadvertently left his cellular phone at a gas station in Cudahy, Wisconsin. A citizen noticed that Orlando had left the phone behind and attempted to return it to him.  When she was unsuccessful in catching Orlando before he left the parking lot, the citizen opened the phone with the intention of obtaining information on the owner.  While looking for ownership information that citizen stumbled upon images she believed to child pornography.  The citizen, who resides in Milwaukee, turned the phone over to the Milwaukee Police Department. 

The Milwaukee Police Department was able to determine the ownership of the telephone and the location of Orlando the same day they were contacted by the citizen.  When Orlando was questioned by police officers, he admitted the phone was his and that he was in possession of child pornography.  A forensic examination by the High Technology Unit of the Milwaukee Police Department revealed additional images of child pornography that were produced by Orlando.  Orlando befriended several of the parents of the young children and was ultimately entrusted with their care. 

This case was prosecuted in federal court as part of “Project Safe Childhood,” the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative 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 using the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Milwaukee Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Penelope L. Coblentz.