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January 26, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Two Eastern Panhandle Residents Sentenced on
Child Pornography Charges

 

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — Two Eastern Panhandle residents were sentenced on January 25, 2011, in United States District Court in Martinsburg by Chief Judge John Preston Bailey.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that:

DON WINDELL COATES, age 66, of Springfield, West Virginia, was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment to be followed by 10 years supervised release. COATES entered a plea of guilty on November 9, 2010, to one count of an Indictment charging him with possession of child pornography. On May 22, 2007, a search warrant was executed at COATES’ home, and the West Virginia State Police seized five computer hard drives containing over 200 images of child pornography which had been moved in interstate commerce. COATES is currently free on bond and will self-report to a designated federal institution. The case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.

MARCUS EUGENE STALEY, age 41, of Martinsburg, was sentenced to 87 months imprisonment to be followed by 10 years supervised release. STALEY entered a plea of guilty on November 8, 2010, to one count of an Indictment charging him with possession of child pornography. On March 5, 2010, a search warrant was executed at STALEY’s home, and the West Virginia State Police seized a computer and related media. A forensic analysis of the seized items revealed over 6,000 images of child pornography which had been moved in interstate commerce. STALEY was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal. The case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police, with assistance from the Keene, New Hampshire Police Department.

The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul T. Camilletti.

These cases were prosecuted 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.