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Press Release

Florida Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken has sentenced a Jacksonville, Florida, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. The sentencing took place on July 7, 2023.

James Dean Hanapel, 22, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Hanapel will also be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Hanapel was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of 2021.  He was found guilty by a jury on April 13, 2023.

Evidence at trial established that Hanapel was arrested as a result of an undercover sex trafficking operation conducted during the 2021 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, targeting internet predators.  Following multiple chats and sexually explicit text messages with a person Hanapel believed to be a 14-year-old girl, but who was in fact an undercover agent, Hanapel proceeded to negotiate a time and place he would meet the minor to engage in unlawful sex acts. When Hanapel went to the pre-determined location to meet the minor, he was instead met by law enforcement agents and placed under arrest.

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. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, Homeland Security Investigations, Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.

Hanapel was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

 

Updated July 12, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood