Henrico Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Pornography

RICHMOND—Stephen T. Wood, 42, of Henrico County, Virginia, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to one count of transportation of child pornography.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States Magistrate Judge Dennis W. Dohnal.

Wood was indicted on February 2, 2010, by a federal grand jury. Sentencing has been scheduled for July 14, 2010, at which time Wood will face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. As a result of this conviction, Wood will also be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.

According to court documents, Wood was identified by law enforcement officers during an undercover investigation of individuals trading images of child pornography over the Internet. In the course of their investigation, agents conducted an interview of Wood at his residence. During the interview, Wood admitted to being the primary user of a computer located within the residence, and gave agents permission to remove and analyze the computer. A subsequent forensic examination of the computer revealed hundreds of e-mails with attachments containing numerous images of child pornography in the computer’s “Mail You’ve Sent” and “Incoming/Saved Mail” folders. A number of these e-mails with attachments containing child pornography images were sent from Wood’s AOL e-mail account to other individuals.

This case was investigated by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth C. Wu and Special Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Johnstone of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.