BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Dustin Coffelt, 37, of Depew, NY, who was convicted of production and possession of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. In July 2022, the Depew Police Department received a report that Coffelt sexually abused a 13-year-old girl (minor victim). Subsequent investigation determined that the alleged abuse may have been ongoing for several years and included communication over various social media applications and text messaging. On July 29, 2022, Coffelt provided a voluntary statement to detectives from the Depew and Cheektowaga Police Departments admitting to the sexual abuse and producing sexually explicit photographs of the minor victim. Coffelt also voluntarily provided his phone to the detectives and subsequent extraction of the device revealed numerous sexually explicit images of the minor victim, which constitute child pornography. Members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation subsequently arrested Coffelt on August 11, 2022.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maeve E. Huggins and Sasha Mascarenhas. The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Depew Police Department, under the direction of Chief James McNamara, the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief Brian Coons, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis, II.# # # #