Cheyenne, WY–A Wyoming man was sentenced May 3 to five years in federal prison for transporting child pornography, according to federal authorities.
Joshua Poole, 40, of Sheridan, Wyoming, was arrested in Sheridan. On May 2, Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal sentenced Poole to 60 months of imprisonment, to be followed by 60 months of supervised release; he was also ordered to pay $3,500 restitution to the victim, and a $100 special assessment.
The investigation was conducted under Homeland Security Investigation’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, the agency has arrested more than 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children.
In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.