MISSOULA — Mark Allen McNeely, Sr. of Missoula, who admitted to numerous child pornography crimes, was sentenced on Friday to 12 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
He was also ordered to pay $3,000 restitution, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said in press release.
McNeely, Sr., 51 years, pleaded guilty in June to a dozen counts, including distribution of child pornography, transportation of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography.
In court records filed in the case, the prosecution said that on Nov. 20, 2018, a Missoula Police detective and member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served a search warrant on McNeely’s residence.
An examination of a laptop seized in the search determined it had been used to search for, download and store images and videos of child pornography.
The laptop also had been used to communicate with others in chatrooms on child pornography.
The detective also obtained records from Skype and Facebook that were associated with accounts used by McNeely. Those records showed that McNeely distributed images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct on multiple dates.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Missoula Police Department, Bozeman Police Department and ICAC Task Force.
