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Press Release
Press Release
SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Plankinton, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. The sentencing took place on June 5, 2024. Kody William Konechne, age 23, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100. Konechne must register as a sex offender upon release from federal prison. Konechne was indicted by a federal grand jury in March of 2023. He pleaded guilty on February 27, 2024. The conviction stemmed from an incident on March 5, 2023, when Konechne used his cell phone to attempt to coerce a 14-year-old female he met on Facebook to engage in sexual activity. The girl, however, was an undercover agent. Konechne was arrested when he arrived at the location where he thought he would be meeting the girl. 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 Homeland Security Investigations – Sioux Falls, the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case. Konechne was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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