One Federal Inmate Pleads Guilty, Another Indicted In Fort Dix Prison Child Pornography Ring

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Tennessee man became the seventh defendant to plead guilty while a Massachusetts man was indicted in connection to a child pornography ring at Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix that was operated by inmates who were imprisoned for related offenses, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Charles Wesley Bush, 38, of Knoxville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography.

William H. Noble, 52, of Lowell, Massachusetts, was charged by indictment today with conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, receipt of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and accessing child pornography with intent to view on federal property. He will be arraigned at a later date.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Bush admitted that he possessed a micro SD Card containing 2,471 images and 95 videos of child pornography, including depictions of sexual abuse of pre-pubescent children, bestiality, and sadistic and masochistic conduct. In connection with his plea, Bush also admitted that he used a cellular telephone inside the prison to obtain and possess child pornography and that he knowingly engaged in the distribution of child pornography by agreeing to transfer the micro SD card to another inmate.

Noble allegedly transferred the same micro SD card to a government informant at FCI-Fort Dix on April 19, 2017. Noble allegedly downloaded the child pornography himself and with the assistance of another inmate in the prison. Noble previously pleaded guilty in the District of Massachusetts to transportation and distribution of child pornography and was serving an 81-month sentence with a scheduled release date of March 8, 2018 at the time the alleged offenses were committed. He is currently in custody pending trial on the charges in today’s indictment.

At sentencing, Bush faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release. Bush’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 10, 2018.

If convicted, Noble faces mandatory minimum terms of 10 and 15 years in prison, a potential maximum of 40 years in prison, and a lifetime of supervised release. The pending charges and allegations against Noble are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Bush, Noble, and six other inmates were arrested in April 2017 and February 2018 following an FBI investigation involving multiple covert recordings and several cooperating inmates. The investigation revealed that Bush, Noble, and other inmates utilized contraband cellphones, micro SD cards, and access to the internet to obtain, view, and distribute child pornography within the prison. A co-defendant organized and helped facilitate this criminal activity by maintaining cloud accounts that were used as repositories for child pornography.

Five other inmates – Anthony C. Jeffries, 32, of Orange, Virginia, Jordan T. Allen, 31, of Plain City, Ohio, Brian J. McKay, 47, of Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, Jacob S. Good, 26, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Christopher D. Roffler, 30, of Virginia Beach, Virginia – have also pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and await sentencing.

A sixth inmate, Erik M. Smith, 36, of Iron Mountain, Michigan, pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced on May 7, 2018 to an additional 151 months in prison.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with the investigation. He also thanked officials of the Bureau of Prisons at Federal Correctional Institution Fort Dix for their assistance.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gabriel J. Vidoni and Alyson M. Oswald of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense counsel:

Bush: David Rudenstein Esq., Philadelphia

Noble: Martin Isenberg, Esq., Gibbsboro, New Jersey