NEWARK, N.J. - A Morris County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for distributing images of child sexual abuse, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Mark Derzko, 74, of Mine Hill, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to an information charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography. Judge Walls imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in the case and statements in court:
Derzko used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program, which he installed on his computer several years ago, to download videos and images of child sexual abuse. In May, August and September of 2016, law enforcement downloaded more than two dozen videos of child sexual abuse from Derzko’s computer. After executing a search warrant at Derzko’s home in October 2016, agents located more than 2,000 videos and over 8,000 images of child sexual abuse on Derzko’s computers. Derzko admitted that he was making available for others to download videos he had previously saved on his computer.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Walls sentenced Derko to five years of supervised release, ordered him to register as a sex offender and ordered him to pay restitution of $24,000.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Newark Special Agent in Charge Brian Michael, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and the Wharton, New Jersey, Police Department for their assistance with the case.
The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel Mark J. McCarren of the U.S. Attorney’s Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Michael Koribanics Esq., Clifton, New Jersey
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
