Northern District of New York | Madison County Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Ryan Berte, age 33, of Eaton, New York, pleaded guilty yesterday to receiving and possessing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), Northeast Area Field Office, Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward, Boston Division, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and New York State Police (NYSP) Acting Superintendent Steven A .Nigrelli.

As part of his guilty plea yesterday, Berte admitted that from at least February 24, 2021, through March 10, 2021, while employed as a mail carrier in Madison County, New York, he downloaded images and videos of child pornography which he also made available to third parties using a peer-to-peer file sharing program installed on his laptop. Berte also admitted that, on September 22, 2021, during a search of his home, he possessed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography on the same laptop.

At sentencing, scheduled for May 22, 2023, Berte faces a maximum potential sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum term of 5 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life, and a maximum fine of $250,000. Berte will also be required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statutes the defendant is charged with violating, the US Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

This case was investigated by USPS-OIG, USPIS, and the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), Computer Crimes Unit (CCU), Troop D Oneida. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and is designed to marshal 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.