Sparta Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Child Pornography

Sparta, Ill. – Kory R. Schulein (37), of Sparta, Illinois, pleaded guilty today to knowingly
receiving child pornography over the internet. A federal grand jury returned the single-count
indictment against Schulein last October.
Schulein first came to the attention of law enforcement in 2018 during an FBI investigation of
child pornography on the dark web. Agents were able to track his IP address and executed a federal
search warrant at his home on Oct. 1, 2019.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children confirmed the identities of children
depicted in over 2,500 images and 100 videos found on Schulein’s laptop computer and two external
hard drives. According to court documents, Schulein downloaded the child pornography from 2016 to
2019.

At the conclusion of today’s plea hearing, Schulein was remanded into federal custody pending his
sentencing hearing, which is set for Aug. 11, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. at the federal courthouse in East
St. Louis. He faces 5-20 years in prison on the charge. His sentence will be determined by United
States District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn after consideration of the federal sentencing guidelines
and other statutory factors.

The investigation was conducted by FBI-Springfield, with assistance from the United States Marshals
Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan D. Stump and Trial Attorneys Jessica
Urban and Alicia Bove with the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.