An Independence man who distributed child pornography was sentenced on Tuesday to more than 12 years in federal prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says 42-year old Curtis Lellig received the sentence after pleading guilty last August to one count of distribution of child pornography. At the plea hearing, Lellig admitted that, between December 2022 and January 2024, he knowingly distributed child pornography.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Lellig was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. He was ordered to make $66,000 in restitution to 20 victims depicted in the child pornography he possessed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the FBI, the Independence Police Department, and the Iowa State Patrol.
