NORFOLK, Va. - Thomas W. Almberg, 50, of Virginia Beach, was sentenced today to 126 months in prison for charges of coercing and enticing minors to engage in illegal sexual activity. Almberg was also sentenced to 25 years of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.
Almberg pleaded guilty on Oct. 18, 2016. According to court documents, Almberg, a former lieutenant in the Chesapeake Fire Department, frequented several social media sites looking to chat with teenage girls. In January 2016, he met a 15-year-old boy pretending to be a 16-year-old girl on the interactive video game Clash of Clans and the two began chatting and text messaging. Over the next two months, the two exchanged over 8,000 text messages, often while Almberg was on duty and at his fire station. The conversations quickly grew to be sexually graphic, including Almberg sending sexually explicit photographs and requesting that the teen reciprocate. In April, Almberg met a 16-year-old girl on a different mobile chat application and their conversations quickly became sexual in nature, including the exchange of sexually explicit photographs. In May 2016, Almberg traveled to this victim’s workplace in North Carolina and propositioned her for sex. She declined, he left, and was taken into custody shortly thereafter.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Col. K.L. Wright, Chesapeake Chief of Police; and Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan, Jr. Assistant U.S. Attorney V. Kathleen Dougherty prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:16-cr-136.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
