United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Nicholas Weaver, 34, of Norfolk, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for receiving child pornography and distributing methamphetamine. Chief United States District Court Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Weaver to 76 months’ imprisonment for receiving child pornography and a concurrent 70-month term for distributing methamphetamine. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Weaver will serve an eight-year term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender. Weaver was ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution to the four minor victims whose images were among the child pornography in his collection.

In September 2017, Weaver received images of child pornography through email. He also used an internet messaging service and responded to a Craigslist posting soliciting additional child pornography. In February 2018, he distributed 13 videos and 26 image files of child pornography using a cloud storage link. On December 10, 2018, Weaver was confronted by Homeland Security Investigations. His phone was seized and 200 images of child pornography were discovered.

In February 2019, Weaver was identified through a confidential informant as a methamphetamine dealer who had sold the informant 10 to 12 ounces of methamphetamine in the preceding month.  A search warrant was served on Weaver’s home in Norfolk. Seventy grams of methamphetamine were found. Weaver admitted to receiving 6 pounds of methamphetamine in the course of the past year.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Nebraska State Patrol.