12 October – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and William T. Sims, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, announced that defendant, Gary Fujarek, 52, of Miami Beach, Florida, was sentenced by Judge Cecilia Altonaga on October 5, 2005, to a total of 135 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography. Fujarek’s arrest was part of “Operation Clean-Sweep,” an undercover operation initiated by the Miami Electronic Crimes Task Force in an attempt to combat child exploitation on the Internet.
According to the charges and other court records, in September 2004, an undercover United States Secret Service agent met Fujarek in an Internet chat room. Fujarek twice contacted the undercover agent, whom he thought was the mother of a preteen girl, and engaged the undercover agent in sexually explicit communication. During these chats, Fujarek sent the undercover agent digital files containing images of child pornography and expressed an interest in “snuff,” which are videos and/or images of individuals who are dead or are being killed, and sent one such digital image to the undercover agent.
On October 5, 2004, a search warrant was executed on Fujarek’s residence, resulting in the seizure of his computer, several floppy disks, and videotapes. A forensic examination of these items revealed approximately 1600 images of child pornography. Two-hundred eighty (280) of these images contained known child victims previously identified by law enforcement organizations and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the United States Secret Service’s Miami Electronic Crimes Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karlyn J. Hunter.
A copy of all press releases may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on
