Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A man from Independence, Iowa, has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography. Curtis Lellig, 42, received his sentence on February 3, 2026, after pleading guilty on August 25, 2025, to one count of distribution of child pornography.
At his plea hearing, Lellig admitted that he knowingly distributed child pornography between December 2022 and January 2024. The sentencing took place in Cedar Rapids before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Lellig was sentenced to 151 months in prison and ordered to pay $66,000 in restitution to 20 victims depicted in the material he possessed. Following his release from prison, he will serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no possibility of parole under the federal system.
Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel prosecuted the case. The investigation involved several agencies: the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Independence Police Department, and the Iowa State Patrol.
