Man Sentenced in Child Pornography Case

BUFFALO, NY—United States Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. of the Western District of New York announced today the sentencing of Cory Wade Pokigo, 29, of Lackawanna, New York, who was convicted of two counts of possessing child pornography on December 16, 2009. Pokigo was sentenced to 97 months in prison by Chief United States District Court Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was convicted after agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations searched the defendant's home and seized the defendant's computer and other items. A search of the defendant's computer and other recovered items resulted in agents discovering over 6000 images of child pornography. The defendant would obtain the images by using the peer-to- peer filing sharing program "Shareaza."

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 United States 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.

The conviction was the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of James H. Robertson.