Cayuga County Man Sentenced to 180 Months for Child Pornography Crimes and Possession of a Firearm by a Felon

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Richard J. Potter, Jr., age 56, of Springport, New York, was sentenced yesterday to a term of 180 months (15 years) in prison for receiving and possessing child pornography and for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

As part of his previously entered guilty plea, Potter admitted that from June of 2018 to on or about January of 2019, he used the Internet to search for and receive child pornography.  Potter also admitted that on January 23, 2019 he possessed a total of 33,066 images and 206 videos of child pornography on 35 separate electronic devices, and 451 images of child pornography in a cloud storage account that he maintained and controlled. Also located during the execution of a search warrant at the defendant’s residence in Springport was a 12 gauge shotgun illegally possessed by the defendant, a previously convicted felon.

United States District Judge David N. Hurd also imposed a 15-year term of supervised release, which will start after Potter is released from prison.  Potter will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the FBI Syracuse Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and Computer Crimes Unit (CCU), and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s 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 via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.