SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Thomas E. Cargill, age 56, of Endicott, New York was sentenced today to 18 months in prison, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release, for failing to update his sex offender registration by maintaining an unregistered email account. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and David L. McNulty, United States Marshal for the Northern District of New York.
Cargill also was ordered to pay a special assessment of $100. In addition to the term of imprisonment for failing to update his sex offender registration, Cargill was sentenced to an 10 month consecutive term of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release by committing new criminal conduct, failing to answer truthfully questions from his probation officer, and possessing an undisclosed internet capable device.
As part of his previously entered plea agreement, Cargill admitted that from November 5, 2016, through November 13, 2021, he failed to register a Google email address he created on September 24, 2016, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). Cargill was required to register as a sex offender because of his prior federal conviction in 2008 for possession of child pornography in Maryland. That conviction required Cargill to register as a sex offender and to keep that registration current with personal identifying information, including email accounts. Cargill admitted that although he maintained his registration as a sex offender in the State of New York he did not register one of the email accounts that he had created despite knowing that he has an obligation under law to do so.
This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service Sex Offender Investigation Branch with assistance from the United States Probation Office for the Northern District of New York, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.