Producer of Child Pornography Pleads Guilty and Agrees to 40-Year Sentence and Lifetime Supervision

DENVER—Jeffrey Allan Mueller, age 39, of Douglas County, Colorado, pled guilty earlier this week before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez to five counts of production of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography, as well as an asset forfeiture allegation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced. Mueller, who appeared at the change of plea hearing in custody, was remanded immediately following the hearing.

Mueller was first arrested based on a criminal complaint, which was filed on July 26, 2011. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on August 16, 2011. He pled guilty to all counts included in the indictment on Monday, July 9, 2012. In the plea agreement, Mueller agreed to request a minimum prison sentence of 40 years, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be pronounced by Judge Martinez.

At the time of Mueller’s arrest, agents, and officers rescued a minor child Mueller was using to produce child pornography. The child has since been relocated and is in a safe place.

According to publicly available facts, including information in the indictment, between September 2006 and December 2009, Mueller used a minor with the intent that the minor engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography and then transported that child pornography across state and international lines. The indictment alleges that Mueller produced over 50 images of child pornography on five separate occasions. Producing child pornography includes taking still photographs or video of children where the images depict those children in sexually explicit poses or activity.

In counts one through five, production of child pornography, Mueller faces not less than 15 years, and not more than 30 years’ imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. In count six, transportation of child pornography, Mueller faces not less than five years, and not more than 20 years’ imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000.

In the plea agreement the defendant agrees to the asset forfeiture allegation, which includes the forfeiture of digital media storage devices, computers, and cameras.

This case was investigated by the Denver FBI Innocent Images Task Force. The Parker Police Department also participated and rendered assistance.

Mueller is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Smith, Chief of the Special Prosecutions Section, with assistant from Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Paluch regarding asset forfeiture matters.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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 locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit the website and click on the tab “Resources.”