GAINESVILLE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSING THOUSANDS OF IMAGES AND VIDEOS OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Daniel Reginald Hanna, II, 38, of Gainesville, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to receipt and possession of child pornography. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “I deeply appreciate the commitment of our state and federal law enforcement partners to keeping our children safe from predators like this defendant by zealously investigating these crimes. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute these sick individuals to the fullest extent to ensure they face significant prison time.”

Court documents reflect that the defendant maintained a significant and disturbing collection of child pornography. While executing a search warrant at the defendant’s residence in March 2025, law enforcement located numerous electronic devices that contained child sex abuse material, including 163 videos in a folder entitled “Kids,” and over 2,500 images of child pornography on two cell phones.

Hanna faces a minimum of five years’ imprisonment and up to forty years total. Following his release, Hanna will have to register as a sex offender and will be on supervised release for at least five years.  

The case involved a joint investigation by the Gainesville Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam Hapner.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 10, 2026, at 1:00 pm in Gainesville, Florida, before Chief District Court Judge Allen C. Winsor.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it 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.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.  To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.