DENVER – Edward Lewis, age 28, of Denver, was sentenced yesterday to serve 72 months (6 years) in federal prison, followed by 15 years on supervised release for possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn and FBI Denver Field Office Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips.  Lewis was also ordered to pay $21,000 restitution to the victims depicted in the images he possessed. 

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez.  Defendant Lewis, who appeared at the sentencing hearing on bond, was remanded by Judge Martinez at the hearing’s conclusion.  He will serve his prison time at a location to be determined by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Lewis was first charged by indictment on April 4, 2018.  He pled guilty to possession of child pornography on October 2, 2018.  He was sentenced yesterday, June 12, 2019.  Agents believed he had well over 200,000 images and videos of child pornography and child erotica.

According to the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, Lewis used a peer-to-peer file sharing network called Torrent. From August 8, 2017 through September 5, 2017, an FBI special agent working in an undercover capacity signed on to the Torrent network and downloaded child pornography from Lewis’s IP address that he made available for sharing. Lewis admitted he downloaded most of his child pornography collection from a service that he paid for.  He said he had been collecting child pornography for at least three years and had downloaded more videos and images than he could review.

“One image is bad enough, but 200,000 is simply unfathomable,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn.  “We will continue to do our part here in Colorado to vigorously attack what is truly an international problem.”  

“The recent sentencing of Edward Lewis represents the FBI’s commitment to protect our most vulnerable citizens, our children,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips. “The FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force will continue to work diligently with the United States Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute cases involving the sexual exploitation of children.”

This case was investigated by the FBI.  The defendant was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Valeria Spencer.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.justice.gov/psc.