GRANITE CITY MAN SENTENCE D FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSE S.

Fairview Heights, Ill. -- The following information was released by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois:

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 2, 2010, TONY C. JOHNSON , age 27, of Granite City, Illinois, was sentenced in United States District Court after previously pleading guilty to a two count indictment charging him with Possession of Child Pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B), and Transportation of Child Pornography and Transportation of Child Pornography. The violations took place between August 21, 2008 and January 21, 2009, in Madison County, Illinois. JOHNSON was sentenced to 87 months imprisonment, an $850 fine, and lifetime supervised release.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' 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.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations Cybercrimes Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole Gorovsky.