CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that David Rubel, 40, of Tonawanda, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. to receipt of child pornography. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins, who is handling the case, stated that in August 2020, a parent filed a report with the Town of Tonawanda Police Department, alleging that Rubel had been texting his daughter, who recently turned 16 years-old (Victim), and that some of the texts he observed were sexual in nature. The parent observed inappropriate images on his daughter’s cell phone within a text thread between the Victim and Rubel. With the consent of the Victim’s father, an investigator searched the cell phone and observed the text messages, some of which included sexual images. Investigators also searched Rubel’s cell phone and recovered sexual images, including two videos, that were also found on the Victim’s cell phone, within the string of text messages between Ruble and the Victim.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Town of Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Stauffiger and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 1, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Sinatra.
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