Passaic County Man Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

CAMDEN—A Passaic County, New Jersey man was sentenced today to 51 months in prison for downloading images of young children engaged in sexual activity and posed in a sexually explicit manner, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Gilbert Seidel, 48, of Hawthorne, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas to an information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography. Judge Irenas imposed sentence today in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements in court:

Seidel admitted to possessing videos of child pornography that he had downloaded from the Internet, acknowledging he had videos he knew depicted prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The files were downloaded using a peer-to-peer file sharing program. A search of Seidel’s residence by law enforcement uncovered hundreds of child pornography files, including videos of a young girl and a toddler being sexually assaulted. As part of his guilty plea, Seidel agreed to forfeit the computers and computer accessories he used to commit the offense.

Seidel was previously charged by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office for related conduct—pursuant to an investigation by Passaic County Sheriff’s Office and the Hawthorne Police Department Detective Bureau—before the possession case was referred for federal prosecution.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Irenas sentenced Seidel to five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $3,000 in restitution. Seidel’s bail was revoked, and he was ordered detained on May 7, 2012 for violating the condition that he not possess connected devices. He is also required to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI Newark Division’s Cyber Crime Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence. He also thanked the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, Passaic County Sheriff’s Department, and Hawthorne Detective Bureau for their invaluable work.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane H. Yoon of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Traveling to New Jersey for Illicit Sexual Conduct with a Child

NEWARK, NJ—Curtis Miglionico II was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for traveling from his home in Pennsylvania to New Jersey to engage in sexual conduct with a 13-year-old with whom he had been chatting on the Internet, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Miglionico 28, of Quakertown, Pa., previously pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with one count of traveling with the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a child. Miglionico, who has been in custody since his arrest in January 2010, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls, who also imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Miglionico admitted that over the course of several months starting in June 2008, he engaged in multiple sexually explicit conversations online with an individual he believed to be a 13-year-old child. After encouraging the “child” to meet him, he traveled from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Jan. 27, 2010, for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Walls sentenced the defendant to eight years of supervised release. Miglionico is also required to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Newark FBI Cyber Crime Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark; and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Richard K. Berdnick, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vikas Khanna and Amy Luria of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark.

Defense counsel: Donald J. McCauley Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark

Old Mob, New Mob

Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books on the mafia, drug cartels and police corruption.

During the early 1960s, Raymond V. Martin was an Assistant Chief Inspector of the Brooklyn South Detective Squad of the New York Police Department. His book, Revolt in the Mafia, is the story of his battles with the Gallo crime family. Perhaps most interesting, many of the real names he recounts, find their way into Mario Puzo’s mafia classic – The Godfather. In addition to names, places and incidents, Martin describes his strategies and tactics for his battle against the mob.

Jerry Speziale is a police officer who has attended three police academies and is a certified police officer in three states: New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Jerry Speziale first served fifteen years with the New York Police Department where he worked in the South Bronx, Organized Crime Control Bureau and Federal Drug Enforcement Task Force. After leaving NYPD, he has been the Chief of Department with the Bergen County Sheriff's Department and the Chief of Police in New Hope Pennsylvania. As of 2007, he is the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff.

Sheriff Jerry Speziale’s book is Without A Badge: Undercover in the World's Deadliest Criminal Organization. According to Publishers Weekly (2003), “An original member of the DEA's legendary Group 93, which was founded in 1990 to target the drug cartels based in Cali, Colombia, Speziale has an amazing life story to tell, and in a breathless narrative, he nails the high points of his 20-year-long career. From his troubled youth in New Jersey through his incarnation as the suave "Geraldo Bartone" to infiltrate the Cali gangs, to a final bout with career burnout, Speziale provides a detailed insider look at the tough life of undercover cops and the relentless pressure of a job in which the "only way to bust the cartel is to become part of it.”

Patrick Murphy's experience includes 25 years as a New York Police Department police officer. He was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) by Mayor John Lindsay in 1970. He has also headed the police departments in Syracuse, NY, Washington, D.C., and Detroit. Patrick Murphy wrote Commissioner.

Police-Writers.com now hosts 370 police officers (representing 155 police departments) and their 813 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.