Tag Archive for: sentenced

District of Maryland | Pasadena Man Sentenced to Over Four Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

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Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Raymond Martin Shamer, III, age 21, of Pasadena, Maryland, late yesterday to 50 months in federal prison, followed by 45 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.  Shamer admitted that he also distributed child pornography.  Judge Hollander also ordered that, upon his release from prison, Shamer will be required to register as a sex offender in the places where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). 

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.

According to his guilty plea, from at least July 7, 2019 through June 24, 2020, Shamer used online accounts to communicate with others about child pornography, to distribute child pornography, and to collect child pornography.  Many of the files Shamer collected documented adults sexually abusing of infants and toddlers while they are bound and subjected to other violent conduct.

Shamer admitted that he used a secure communication application to upload images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and that he shared links to those images with a group of users with whom he engaged in group chat conversations.

On June 24, 2020, a search warrant was executed at Shamer’s residence and investigators seized Shamer’s cell phones and computer.  A subsequent forensic examination of the devices revealed a total of more than 1,000 images of child pornography on Shamer’s devices.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more…

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Michigan man sentenced for sexual assault of underage girl in Limerick

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NORRISTOWN — A Michigan man already serving time in federal prison for manufacturing child pornography while engaging in text communications with a teenage Montgomery County girl admitted in county court that he met and sexually assaulted the girl at a Limerick Township hotel.

Mark Allen Hillis, 60, of Southgate, Mich., was sentenced in county court to 15 to 30 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person under 16, unlawful contact with a minor and sexual abuse of children photographing and depicting sexual acts in connection with incidents that occurred in December 2019.

Hillis also must complete three years’ probation following parole, meaning he will be under court supervision on the county charges for 33 years.

The county sentence, imposed by Judge Thomas C. Branca as part of a plea agreement, will run concurrently with a 25-year federal sentence Hillis received in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia last November after he pleaded guilty there to charges of enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct, manufacturing and attempted manufacturing of child pornography, transferring obscene material to a minor, and possessing child pornography.

Under the federal and county sentences, Hillis won’t be eligible for parole until he’s in his 80s.

With the county charges, prosecutors essentially handled the charges related to Hillis’ hands-on contact with the underage girl at the Limerick hotel.

Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Glenning sought a significant state prison term against Hillis.

“The defendant fostered a relationship with a 13-year-old, built her trust, made her feel like they had a relationship and under that had her send him nude photographs of herself and then ultimately meeting up with her in person to accomplish his goal. That is heinous,” Glenning said. “To facilitate a hands-on offense is just horrendous.”

Prosecutors said the charges arose from Hillis’ sexual exploitation of the underage girl by using the internet and text messaging over a period of months, by traveling from…

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Former Uber security chief sentenced for data-breach cover-up

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SAN FRANCISCO — The former chief security officer for Uber was sentenced to probation Thursday for trying to cover up a 2016 data breach in which hackers accessed tens of millions of customer records from the ride-hailing service.

Joseph Sullivan was sentenced to a three-year term of probation and ordered to pay a fine of $50,000, the U.S. attorney’s office announced.

Sullivan, 54, of Palo Alto was convicted by a federal jury in San Francisco last October of obstructing justice and concealing knowledge that a federal felony had been committed.

It was believed to be the first criminal prosecution of a company executive over a data breach.

Sullivan was hired as Uber’s chief security officer in 2015. In November 2016, Sullivan was emailed by hackers, and employees quickly confirmed that they had stolen records on about 57 million users and also 600,000 driver’s license numbers, prosecutors said.

After learning of the breach, Sullivan began a scheme to hide it from the public and the Federal Trade Commission, which had been investigating a smaller 2014 hack, authorities said.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Sullivan told subordinates that “the story outside of the security group was to be that ‘this investigation does not exist,’ ” and arranged to pay the hackers $100,000 in bitcoin in exchange for them signing non-disclosure agreements promising not to reveal the hack. He also never mentioned the breach to Uber lawyers who were involved with the FTC’s inquiry, prosecutors said.

Uber’s new management began investigating the breach in the fall of 2017. Despite Sullivan lying to the new chief executive officer and others, the truth was uncovered, and the breach was made public, prosecutors said.

Sullivan was fired along with Craig Clark, an Uber lawyer he had told about the breach. Clark was given immunity by prosecutors and testified against Sullivan.

Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 15 months in federal prison for Sullivan, who submitted more than 100 letters of support from friends, family and colleagues.

In an April sentencing memo, prosecutors said that showed that Sullivan is “a wealthy, powerful man” with a deep network of family and friends.

“There…

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Detroit man sentenced to prison for hacking into bank accounts, stealing $300K

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A Detroit man was sentenced to prison for stealing more than $300,000 from the bank accounts in a criminal enterprise, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Wednesday.

Johnny Richardson, 28, was sentenced to three to 20 years behind bars for conducting a criminal enterprise that included gaining cellphone data of victims and hacking into their bank accounts for money or to take out loans, according to Nessel’s office. Richardson will be required to pay for court costs, crime victim fees and $309,210 in restitution.

Richardson already is serving eight years in prison for operating an unemployment fraud scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. He pleaded guilty in July 2021 to stealing $138,000 in COVID aid.

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