Palm Beach County Man Sentenced for Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography

Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Investigations, and Michael J. Folmar, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced that defendant Michael L. Pickering, 20, a resident of Palm Beach County, was sentenced on October 2, 2009 on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra sentenced Pickering to 150 months in federal prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release.

This investigation began in August 2008 when an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer downloaded approximately 350 images of child pornography from Pickering on an internet-based file sharing website. The RCMP, with assistance of French authorities, learned that Pickering’s computer utilized an Internet Protocol address that was assigned to a residence in West Palm Beach, FL.

On March 31, 2009, an agent with the FBI located the defendant using the internet. Through the same file sharing program, the defendant allowed the agent to view and download files he had selected to share with others directly from his computer. The agent downloaded video, text and image files from the defendant’s computer, which depicted children under the age of 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

On April 14, 2009, ICE and FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at the defendant’s residence in West Palm Beach. Federal authorities seized multiple computers that contained numerous images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A forensic examination of Pickering’s computers revealed 109 videos and more than 4,000 photographic images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Most of the images depicted children under the age of 12. Some of the material also included images of children in bondage.

Pickering was charged with distribution of child pornography. On July 17, 2009, Pickering pled guilty to an Information, which charged him with two counts of distribution of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2), and one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(b).

Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of ICE’s Office of Investigations, with the assistance of the FBI in Miami. Mr. Sloman also commended the RCMP for their assistance and cooperation in this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dispoto.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.