United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Wall, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography was sentenced on October 30, 2020, by Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court Judge.
Justin Westby, age 46, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
The conviction stemmed from an undercover sex trafficking operation conducted during the 2019 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, targeting internet predators. Westby was arrested and federally indicted following multiple text messages he exchanged with a person Westby believed to be a 15-year-old girl, but who was in fact an undercover agent. Westby requested sexually explicit images from the 15-year-old undercover persona and proceeded to negotiate the time and place he would meet the minor to engage in unlawful sex acts. When Westby went to the pre-determined location to meet the minor, he was instead met by law enforcement agents and placed under arrest.
The investigation was conducted by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah B. Collins prosecuted the case.
Westby was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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