BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jason Zaifert, 33, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara to possession of child pornography. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who is handling the case, stated that on Nov. 21, 2013, Zaifert possessed child pornography on computers, hard drives and thumb drives in his residence in Buffalo. The defendant possessed over 1,000 image and video files. Some of the images included depictions of violence and some of the children were under 12 years old. Zaifert used peer to peer software to download and view the child pornography.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations under the direction of Special Agent-In-Charge, James C. Spero.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
