The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on February 8, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, JOSEF DAVID WILLIAMS, a 26-year-old resident of Greeley, Colorado, appeared for sentencing. WILLIAMS was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 120 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Forfeiture: computer equipment

• Supervised Release: life

WILLIAMS was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession of child pornography.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents determined that an IP address had child pornography files available for download between March 13 and March 17, 2008. Agents determined the IP address subscriber resided in Great Falls. When they interviewed the female at the residence tied to the IP address, she indicated WILLIAMS was in the U.S. Army and had been on leave from Iraq during that time frame and staying at her home. She said he used his own laptop to download music via the Internet and Limewire to be transferred to his iPod.

An ICE agent contacted the U.S. Army, and the Army confiscated WILLIAMS' laptop, iPod and one external harddrive in Iraq. The Army CID laboratory examined the items and discovered child pornography on WILLIAMS' laptop. Approximately 140 image files and one movie file portraying children posed in a lewd or lascivious manner or engaged in sexual activity were located.

Remnants of the Limewire file sharing program were located on the laptop. Incomplete download log entries of file names indicative of child pornography were located. The Internet Explorer history on the laptop was also examined and disclosed filepaths and websites with names indicative of one searching for child pornography. The iTunes music library also listed files names indicative of child pornography files.

During an interview in July 2008, WILLIAMS admitted he utilized Limewire in March 2008 while visiting his wife and mother-in-law.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that WILLIAMS will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, WILLIAMS does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

 

 

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