Saratoga County Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Update His Sex Offender Registration

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jonathon Rule, age 28, of Moreau, New York, pled guilty today to failing to update his sex offender registration, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith.

Rule was charged with violating the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), which requires a convicted sex offender to register, and keep that registration current, wherever he or she resides.  Rule admitted that he was previously convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree in Michigan, which required him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.  Rule further admitted that he moved from Michigan to Moreau, New York, in January 2016, and lived there for approximately 2 years prior to being arrested by the New York State Police, without ever registering in New York or updating his registration in Michigan.

Rule faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service Sex Offender Investigation Branch and the New York State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emmet O’Hanlon.

This case is prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.