Sioux Falls Man Sentenced to 12 ½ Years in Federal Prison for Transportation of Child Pornography

SIOUX FALLS - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier has sentenced a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Transportation of Child Pornography. The sentencing took place on December 16, 2024.

Jeffrey Michael Dicus, age 40, was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $3,000, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100. Upon release from federal prison, Dicus must register as a sex offender.

Dicus was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2023. He pleaded guilty on September 24, 2024.

The conviction stemmed from incidents between January 5, 2017, and February 8, 2023, when Dicus transported child pornography using his Dropbox account. Dicus created his Dropbox account in 2017 and used the online platform to trade images and videos of child pornography with other individuals. He was found in possession of over 5,000 videos and almost 20,000 images of child pornography. The videos and images contained depictions of victims as young as toddler-age engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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 Sioux Falls Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Ebert-Webb prosecuted the case.

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