United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Newcastle, Nebraska, man convicted of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender was sentenced on September 9, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Joseph Ross Burks, age 41, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Burks was indicted by a federal grand jury in February of 2022. He pleaded guilty on June 23, 2022.
The conviction stems from Burks failing to register as a sex offender as required by state law between May 22, 2021, and July 27, 2021. Burks had previously been convicted of a sex offense in state court which requires him to register for the period of 25 years.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Hoffman prosecuted the case.
Burks was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.