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Description: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania criminal law lawyer represented Defendant charged with distribution of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor.
On Nov. 11, 2019, Grant Keppel, age 23, while residing in New York, participated in an online group dedicated to discussing the sexual exploitation of minors and offered for sale a link containing hours of video depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor. Keppel then sold the link to an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation-Pittsburgh Agent who was investigating the online sexual exploitation of minors. As part of its investigation, the FBI discovered that Keppel had amassed a very large collection of child sexual abuse material in online cloud accounts.
Assistant United States Attorney Heidi M. Grogan prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Chung commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Pittsburgh, as well as FBI-Buffalo and its Child Exploitation Task Force, including the New York State Police, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Keppel.
18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2) and 2252(b)(1) DISTRIBUTION AND ATTEMPTED DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL DEPICTING THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF A MINOR
(1)
18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2) provides:
a) Any person who-
(1) knowingly transports or ships using any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means including by computer or mails, any visual depiction, if-
(A) the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(B) such visual depiction is of such conduct;
(2) knowingly receives, or distributes, any visual depiction using any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce or that has been mailed, or has been shipped or transported in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or which contains materials which have been mailed or so shipped or transported, by any means including by computer, or knowingly reproduces any visual depiction for distribution using any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or through the mails, if-
(A) the producing of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and
(B) such visual depiction is of such conduct
* * *
18 U.S.C. 2252(b)(1) provides:
(b)(1) Whoever violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years, but if such person has a prior conviction under this chapter, section 1591, chapter 71, chapter 109A, or chapter 117, or under section 920 of title 10 (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), or under the laws of any State relating to aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, or abusive sexual conduct involving a minor or ward, or the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, or transportation of child pornography, or sex trafficking of children, such person shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not less than 15 years nor more than 40 years.
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 72 months’ incarceration and 10 years of supervised release.
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Defendant's Experts:
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