Essex County Man Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Child Pornography

Press Release

Thomas Wright to Serve 10 Years for Possessing Thousands of Images and Videos of Child Pornography While on Supervision for a Prior Child Pornography Conviction, and an Additional 12 Months for Violating His Conditions of Supervised Release

UTICA, NEW YORK - Thomas Wright, age 63, of Moriah Center, New York, was sentenced today to serve 120 months (10 years) in federal prison following his earlier plea of guilty to possessing child pornography. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made the announcement.

In his previous guilty plea Wright admitted that while on supervised release for a 2014 federal conviction for distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography, he possessed 29,712 images and 276 videos of child pornography on an unauthorized smart phone. The crime was discovered during an unannounced home visit by his supervising federal probation officers.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified 4,835 of the images and 55 of the recovered video files as depicting 197 separate children whose images are in their database of known victims.

In addition to the 10-year sentence, Wright was sentenced to a consecutive 12-month term of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release from his prior offense. Wright was also ordered to pay a total of $81,000 in restitution to victims depicted in the child pornography he possessed. He was ordered to forfeit the smart phone used to commit the offense and will be placed on 25 years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment. Wright will continue to be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York, prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Updated May 23, 2024