Albany County Man Sentenced to 108 Months for Distributing Child Pornography Over Encrypted Messaging Application

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Derek Boprey, age 32, of Ravena, New York, was sentenced today to 108 months in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography via an encrypted messaging application on his phone.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

As part of his guilty plea, Boprey admitted that on March 23, 2018, he used the Wickr Me messaging application to distribute child pornography over the internet to Benjamin Varieur.  Boprey, using the name “durb30,” sent dozens of images of child pornography, including images depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as 2 years old.  Boprey also pled guilty to possessing child pornography on 2 electronic devices.

Varieur, age 34, of Saratoga Springs, New York, and formerly of the Town of Brunswick, New York, was also sentenced, on January 23, 2019, to 108 months in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release.  United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino sentenced both defendants. 

These cases were investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department.  These cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Barnett.