10-Year Child Porn Federal Prison Sentence For Colo. Springs Man

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- A Colorado Springs man was sentenced last week to 10 years in federal prison for possession of more than 700,000 images of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's office announced Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello also sentenced Michael Lyle Blair, age 64, to serve seven years of supervised release and pay restitution of $21,000.

Blair was swept up in a 2013 investigation of his wife by the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Sona Blair was the target of a Homeland Security Investigations money-laundering investigation. HSI believed she was deriving money from the international trafficking of Asian females and their prostitution.

Warrants were issued to search the Colorado Springs family home in December, 2013 and January, 2014. Agents found computer hard drives with more than 700,000 images of child pornography, including " images of prepubescent children being bound or sexually abused," according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office. "The hard drive also contained hundreds of pages of stories that described the abduction or sexual abuse of children," the U.S. Attorney's office said.

"Blair stole more than innocence with the 700,000 images he obtained. For years he left a trail of silent victims," said U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer in a statement. "With this sentence, those victims are finally heard. And Blair will pay every day for the next ten years in federal prison."

“Considering the traumatic impacts on victims of child pornography, the resulting federal prison sentences following a conviction are justifiably significant,” said Steve Cagen, special agent in charge of HSI Denver. "HSI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office worked together to provide justice to these victims, while protecting other potential victims by removing Blair from the community and from cyberspace.”

The investigation worked with agents from Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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