Plantation Man Sentenced In Child Pornography Case

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Franklin Adderley, Chief, Ft. Lauderdale Police Department, and Scott Israel, Sheriff, Broward Sheriff’s Office, announce that James E. Price, III, 42, of Plantation, Fla., was sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams, in connection with his previous conviction for distribution and possession of child pornography , in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252(a)(2) and 2252(a)(4)(B).

At today’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams sentenced Price to 156 months (13 years) in prison, to be followed by 25 years of supervised release upon his release from imprisonment. Restitution will be determined at a later date.

According to court documents and three days of testimony during trial, the case originated from a South Florida Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (ICAC) investigation into an individual suspected of possessing and trading child pornography using a peer to peer file sharing network. The individual was later identified as Price. A search warrant was executed on Price’s residence, where agents discovered a hard drive hidden behind boxes in the home. Subsequent examination revealed that the hard drive was protected by encryption and contained hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the South Florida ICAC, including the Martin County, Fla., Sherriff’s Office, the Broward County, Fla., Sherriff’s Office, and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, with assistance from the CEOS High Technology Investigative Unit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Anton and Mark Dispoto of the Southern District of Florida and by Trial Attorney Thomas Franzinger of CEOS in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.