Utica Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution, Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Daniel Beal, 56, of Utica, New York, pled guilty today in Syracuse before United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes to two counts of distribution of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and seven counts of possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew W. Vale, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Beal, who was ordered held in custody pending his sentencing, faces a term of at least five (5) years and up to 20 years of imprisonment on each of the distribution and receipt counts, and up to ten (10) years imprisonment on the possession counts.  Sentences of imprisonment may be concurrent or consecutive at the discretion of the Court. The Court will also impose a term of supervised release of between five (5) years and life, and Beal will be required to register as a sex offender. 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.

As part of his guilty plea, Beal admitted that he distributed images of child pornography through a Peer-to-Peer file sharing program. On July 29, 2015, investigators searched Beal’s business, Dacobe Enterprises, LLC, and recovered thousands of images and hundreds of videos depicting child pornography. Sentencing is scheduled for January 26, 2017, in Syracuse, New York.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is 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 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.