Mobile Man Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Prison for Attempting to Distribute Child Pornography

MOBILE, AL – Michael Edward Terrell, age 46, was sentenced today to 135 months in prison after entering a guilty plea to a count of Attempted Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography.  Terrell entered his guilty plea on January 30, 2025.

According to court documents, between August 22, 2017, and September 5, 2017, an FBI Online Convert Employee identified Terrell as a person who was distributing child pornography online. FBI executed a search warrant at his home, seized his electronic devices, and found child pornography on his devices.

On December 3, 2019, an ALEA SBI Special Agent was notified that Terrell was soliciting child pornography on Twitter.  ALEA obtained the contents of the Twitter account and confirmed that Terrell, using an explicit username, was engaging in conversations with other Twitter users in which he would request that they send him “hard core” images of child pornography.

At sentencing, Judge Steele imposed the 135-month sentence of incarceration and a 15-year term of supervised release upon his future release. During his term of imprisonment, Terrell will be subject to sex offender treatment, substance abuse testing and treatment, and mental health treatment.  Terrell will be required to register as a sex offender and is to have no contact with minors.  Terrell was ordered to pay $30,500 in restitution to the victims of his offenses and $5,100 in special assessments.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kacey Chappelear prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc/publications-resources