Middlesex County, New Jersey, Man Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Distributing Child Sex Abuse Images

NEWARK, N.J. - An East Brunswick, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for sharing images of child sexual abuse from his home computer, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Armia Alber, 29, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to an indictment charging him with distributing images of child pornography over the Internet. Judge Chesler imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:

Alber admitted that between March and July 2013, he was a member of an online peer-to-peer file sharing network and had more than 600 images or videos of children being sexually abused. Alber also admitted he made images and videos of child pornography available for other members to download from his “shared” folder. During this period, a law enforcement agent successfully downloaded multiple images and videos of child sexual abuse from Alber’s computer.

On July 25, 2013, federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Alber’s residence. The agents recovered two computer hard drives, both of which contained numerous images and videos of child pornography.

As part of his guilty plea, Alber agreed to forfeit the computers and computer accessories he used to commit the offense. He is also required to register as a sex offender.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Chesler sentenced Alber to serve five years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly, with the investigation leading to the sentencing. He also thanked the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the East Brunswick Police Department for their roles in the search and arrest.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Hafetz of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: Assistant Federal Public Defender Carol Gillen Esq., Newark