Springfield, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 120 Months in Federal Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Springfield, Illinois, man, Stacey Furlow, 61, of the 3000 block of North Peoria Road, was sentenced today concurrent terms of 120 months’ imprisonment for attempted enticement of a minor, 60 months’ imprisonment for use of interstate facilities to attempt to transmit information about a minor, and 120 months’ imprisonment for attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor. Upon release from prison, Furlow will serve a five-year term of supervised release.

At the sentencing hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough, the government established that between August 27 and August 29, 2020, Furlow met an individual online whom he believed was a fifteen-year-old child. Despite learning the individual’s age, Furlow discussed engaging in sexual activity with that person, asked for the individual’s address on numerous occasions, and sent inappropriate pictures of himself. On August 29, 2020, after confirming that the person he believed to be a minor was alone, he asked for the child’s address and drove to the residence expecting to engage in sexual conduct; he was then arrested.

Furlow was indicted in September 2020 and was convicted in June 2022 following a two-day jury trial. Furlow has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals since his arrest.

The statutory penalties for attempted enticement of a minor are 10 years to life imprisonment, a possible fine of $250,000, and a five-year to life term of supervised release. The statutory penalties for use of interstate facilities to attempt to transmit information about a minor are up to five years’ imprisonment, a possible fine of $250,000, and a five-year to life term of supervised release. The statutory penalties for attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor are up to ten years’ imprisonment, a possible fine of $250,000, and up to a three-year term of supervised release.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office – with assistance from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; the Springfield Police Department; and the Illinois State Police – investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tanner K. Jacobs and Sierra Senor-Moore represented the government in the prosecution.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.