Gulfport, Miss. - Christopher Bryan Smith, age 45, of Biloxi, pled guilty yesterday before United States District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. to one count of knowingly possessing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Thomas Annello, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New Orleans.
An investigation conducted by HSI with the Wiggins Police Department and the Gulf Coast Cyber Crime Task Force resulted in the identification of an internet protocol address belonging to Christopher Brian Smith and his use of a computer file sharing program. Thereafter, a federal search warrant was executed on July 13, 2017, at Smith’s Biloxi residence. Smith’s electronic devices were seized and forensic examinations were conducted. The examination reports, as well as the submissions of the visual depictions found and submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, resulted in a finding that Smith knowingly possessed visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, to include visual depictions of a minor who had not attained 12 years of age.
Smith will be sentenced on Aug. 16, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden in Gulfport. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison followed by at least five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Gulf Coast Cyber Crime Task Force, and the Wiggins Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
