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Date: 04-07-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 1:21-cr-10034
Judge: James E. Shadid
Court: United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (Peoria County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Peoria
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Peoria, Illinois criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with attempting to sex traffick a minor.
Michael Leonard. age 53, initiated a conversation on an advertising website in August 2020 with an individual he believed to be a mother offering sex with her 9-year-old daughter. In August 2021, Leonard again initiated a text conversation, agreeing to pay $50 for sex with the minor girl. He planned to meet the girl and her mother at an agreed upon location in central Illinois, FBI agents then arrested Leonard upon his arrival. He admitted he was there to meet the minor girl and her mother and that he intended to have sex with the girl. He also admitted that his phone contained images of child pornography. Agents searched the phone and found hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.
Leonard was indicted in September 2021 and pleaded guilty in September 2022. He has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.
The statutory penalties for attempted sex trafficking of a minor are fifteen years to life imprisonment, followed by five years to life of supervised release.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Hollingshead-Cook represented the United States in the prosecution.
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: