Tampa, Florida - United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury yesterday found Bryan Shane Sneed (41, Lutz) guilty of attempted enticement of a minor for sex and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29, 2015.
Sneed was originally indicted on Jan. 28, 2015. A superseding indictment was returned on March 18, 2015.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on Jan. 24, 2014, an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old child responded to an online personal ad posted by Sneed. Sneed, who traveled frequently, communicated with the undercover agent through emails and text messages for almost a year, believing that the agent was 14 years old. During the communications, Sneed repeatedly sent the “child" multiple graphic images and a video of adult pornography. He made firm plans to meet the “child" in Tampa. On Jan. 21, 2015, Sneed arrived at the agreed upon location and was placed under arrest. A search of his vehicle revealed loaded 9 millimeter and.45 caliber handguns, and condoms.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda C. Kaiser.
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 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 locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
