Man Who Received Child Pornography Sentenced

Defendant Who Received Child Pornography Images Sentenced to 110 Months of Imprisonment

ALBANY—United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian; Clifford C. Holly, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division; and Joseph D’Amico, Superintendent of the New York State Police, announced that Justin Gero, age 31, of Albany, New York, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Federal District Court in Albany on his guilty plea to one count of receiving child pornography. Gero was sentenced to 110 months of imprisonment. Following his term of imprisonment, Gero will be placed on supervised release for 50 years. Gero was also ordered to (1) have no unsupervised contact with minors; and (2) register with the New York State Sex Offender Registry Program.

In December 2010, investigators received information that Gero was using a peer-to-peer computer file sharing program to obtain child pornography. On April 15, 2011, investigators executed a search warrant at Gero’s residence in Albany, New York and seized two computers that were used by Gero to obtain, download, and save child pornography images. Gero pled guilty on December 12, 2011 to receiving child pornography via the Internet.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York State Police.