R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony V. Mangione, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced today that defendant Jimmy Oliver, of West Palm Beach, was sentenced to 130 years’ imprisonment following his conviction on four (4) counts of sexual exploitation of a minor to create child pornography and one (1) count of possession of child pornography.
Oliver was arrested on January 20, 2006, on a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. The Criminal Complaint stated that a federal search warrant was executed on the home of a Montana resident, Jimmy Dean Carpenter, in August 2005. The search of Carpenter’s computer equipment and CD-Roms resulted in the discovery of multiple images of child pornography. Digital films of other adult males sexually abusing children also were discovered on Carpenter’s computer equipment and CD-Roms. Chat room logs were found that showed Carpenter discussing sexual activity with children with a person using the screen name “Muscelcars2001.” During the chats, “Muscelcars2001” claimed to be a 54-year-old male resident of Florida.
On January 13, 2006, Carpenter was interviewed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents. During that interview, Carpenter stated that the person using the screen name “Muscelcars2001” was James Oliver. Carpenter admitted to sending child pornography to Oliver and receiving child pornography from Oliver. Carpenter described how he stored the child pornography he received from Oliver and, from that description, a film of Oliver performing oral sex on a prepubescent child was identified.
Once Oliver was positively identified, a Criminal Complaint was prepared, and an arrest warrant issued on January 19, 2006. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, began surveillance of Oliver’s home that evening, and Oliver was located at his work and was arrested on January 20, 2006. On the same day, a federal search warrant was executed and on Oliver’s West Palm Beach home. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Computer Crimes Unit forensically examined Oliver’s computer equipment and found evidence of the existence of images of child pornography on that equipment.
On October 6, 2006, a West Palm Beach federal grand jury returned a nineteen-count Second Superseding Indictment charging Oliver with seven counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography, each of which carried a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years up to a maximum of twenty (20) years. Oliver was charged with two counts of distribution of child pornography to a minor in order to induce or persuade the minor to engage in sexual activity with an adult male, each of which carried a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years up to a maximum of twenty (20) years. Oliver was charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor for the purpose of creating child pornography, each of which carried a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years up to a maximum of thirty (30) years. Oliver also was charged with four counts of permitting a minor in his custody or control to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of creating child pornography, each of which carried a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of fifteen (15) years up to a maximum of thirty (30) years. Lastly, Oliver was charged with one count of possession of child pornography, which carried a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of ten (10) years.
On November 3, 2006, Oliver pled guilty to five (5) counts of the Second Superseding Indictment: four (4) counts of sexual exploitation of a minor to create child pornography and one (1) count of possession of child pornography. Today, United States District Court Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp sentenced Oliver to the maximum term of imprisonment of 1560 months (130 years). Judge Ryskamp also imposed restitution in the amount of $11,142 to pay for the victim’s psychological counseling, and a special assessment of $500.
U.S. Attorney Acosta stated, “No prison sentence, no matter how lengthy, can undo the serious harm done to these children. Nonetheless, today’s sentence is just punishment for this most heinous crime.”
“While we cannot restore innocence to those who were abused and exploited, we can make sure that justice is served. The cooperative efforts of Florida law enforcement agencies and federal prosecutors ensured that justice was indeed served on behalf of the victims, ” said Anthony Mangione, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Miami.
Mr. Acosta commended the joint efforts of the West Palm Beach and Great Falls (Montana) offices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Great Falls (Montana) Police Department, Assistant United States Attorney Marcia Hurd from Great Falls and Assistant United States Attorney A. Marie Villafaña from West Palm Beach.
A copy of this press release 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 http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
