MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that John Woodward, 33, Rockford, Illinois, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 10 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. This term of imprisonment is to be followed by a lifetime period of supervised release. Woodward pleaded guilty to this offense on December 8, 2021.
On February 11, 2010, Woodward was sentenced in the Northern District of New York to 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography. He was released to supervision on August 24, 2017. On June 26, 2018, that supervision was transferred from New York to the Northern District of Illinois.
On July 11, 2018, agents searched Woodward’s home and found at least nine printed images of child pornography and 20 images of child erotica. Agents also determined that he viewed child erotica on his cell phone. His supervised release was revoked, and he was sentenced to 24 months in prison to be followed by a life-time period of supervised release.
As it relates to the conduct charged in this case, on March 24, 2020 Woodward was again released to federal supervision. This time he was placed at Rock Valley Community Center in Janesville, Wisconsin. On August 14, 2020, while at Rock Valley he was found in possession of an unauthorized cell phone. The phone was seized and later analyzed. Woodward was interviewed following the confiscation of the phone and said he used the phone to view child pornography. An analyst was able to recover hundreds of deleted explicit images on the phone.
The charge against Woodward was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman prosecuted this case.