Retired Prison Guard And School Bus Driver Sentenced To 12 Years For Attempting To Travel To Canada To Engage In Sex With Minors

          MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN - Michael Keith Feighner, 64, of Rudyard, Michigan, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison for attempted travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced today. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney ordered Feighner to serve eight years of supervised release upon the completion of his sentence. He will also be required to register as a sexual offender.

          On June 28, 2018, Feighner pled guilty to a charge of attempting to travel to a foreign country for the purpose of having sexual relations with a minor. This investigation began when an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent, operating from a list of customers who were frequenting child pornography websites and trading child pornography, contacted Feighner. Believing that he was communicating with the father of three underage children, Feighner arranged for a meeting in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with the children. On the agreed date, Feighner traveled from Rudyard and was intercepted and arrested at the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

          Feighner is a retired state corrections officer who was employed at the MDOC prison in Kincheloe, Michigan. He later worked as a school bus driver for the Rudyard Area Schools from 2013 through 2017.

          The investigation was conducted by special agents of HSI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D. Lochner.

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