ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger
sentenced Sammy Horace Williams, II, to 84 months in prison and a lifetime of
supervised release on child pornography charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S.
Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Williams, 55, of
Asheville, was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released
from prison, and to pay a $5,000 special assessment and $3,000 in restitution.
Ronnie Martinez, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in North
Carolina joins U.S. Attorney Murray in making today’s announcement.
According to court documents and information introduced at
the sentencing hearing, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents
conducting an investigation into child pornography on the internet became aware
that an individual, later identified as Williams, was accessing child
pornography online. On May 18, 2017, HSI agents executed a search warrant at
Williams’ residence. During the search, they seized multiple computer devices,
thumb drives, and CDs belonging to Williams. A forensic analysis of the seized
items revealed that Williams possessed more than 450 videos and 1,647 images of
child pornography, some of which depicted prepubescent minors engaging in
sadistic and masochistic or other lewd and lascivious conduct.
On October 30, 2019, Williams pleaded guilty to receiving
child pornography. In filed plea documents, Williams admitted to downloading
child pornography via the internet to his computer and other storage devices.
Williams is currently in federal custody. All federal sentences are served without the
possibility of parole.
U.S. Attorney Murray thanked HSI for their handling of this
investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment