Palm Beach Gardens Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

MIAMI – Michael Thomas Dolce, 54, a Palm Beach Gardens attorney, was sentenced yesterday, by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, to 48 months in federal prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.

As part of his guilty plea, Dolce admitted to downloading child pornography to his personal laptop at his West Palm Beach apartment. According to court records, Dolce used peer-2-peer software to search for and download the illegal material, including prepubescent children. Nearly 2,000 images and videos were recovered from Dolce’s laptop. Forensic evidence confirmed that Dolce was in the process of downloading child pornography files just before law enforcement seized his laptop during the execution of a federal search warrant of his residence.

“The prosecutors in our office, alongside our FBI partners, are committed to safeguarding all children from child predators” stated U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida.  “As an attorney and Southern District resident, Michael Dolce had a duty to protect children from the very crimes for which he pled guilty to committing.  Yesterday, Dolce was sentenced to prison for casting aside his oath and victimizing the most vulnerable people in society – our children.   We encourage anyone with information regarding the sexual exploitation of children to immediately contact the FBI.”

“The investigation revealed that Michael Dolce downloaded onto his laptop nearly 2,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse material, including prepubescent children,” said Jeffrey B. Veltri, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “There is nothing more despicable than those who carry out crimes against the most innocent among us - our children.  That is why our agents, analysts, and task force officers work tirelessly to bring to justice those individuals responsible for such heinous crimes.”

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, announced the sentencing.

The West Palm Beach Resident Agency of the FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller prosecuted it.

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 U.S. 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 or https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/project-safe-childhood.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-cr-80063.

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