Jackson, TN – Michael Nathaniel Holland, 37, has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for transporting a minor across state lines with intent that the minor engage in criminal sexual activity. United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant, for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today. According to information presented in court, in November 2024, Holland traveled from his home in Columbia, South Carolina to Jackson, Tennessee to pick up a 12-year-old girl that he had been communicating with over Snapchat for several months. After picking her up, Holland drove the minor back to his home in South Carolina. Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were ultimately able to locate the minor at Holland’s residence. The minor told investigators that Holland performed several sexual acts on her after they arrived at his home. A search of Holland’s cell phone corroborated the minor’s statements, as investigators located several photographs and videos on Holland’s phone which showed him engaging in various sexual acts with the minor at his residence. Following his guilty plea to the transportation offense earlier this year, United States District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Holland on September 28, 2026 to 324 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. After he is released from prison, Holland will have to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration & Notification Act (SORNA), and he was also ordered to pay the $5,000 special assessment under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA). U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said, “Travelers and traffickers who target and victimize children cannot hide from ultimate detection and aggressive prosecution by this office. This predator exploited a vulnerable child in a horrific way, and will now rightly suffer significant consequences.”
“When a child is victimized, we will use every resource available to investigate the crime, pursue the offender, and seek justice for the victim and their family,” said Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “This sentence is a result of the coordination of the FBI Nashville Field Office – Jackson Resident Agency and the FBI Columbia Field Office. I commend the investigators, prosecutors, and victim specialists for their relentless work to bring Michael Holland to justice.”
This case was investigated by members of the FBI in Columbia, South Carolina and in Jackson, Tennessee. Assistant United States Attorney Josh Morrow and former Assistant United States Attorney Christie Hopper prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.###For more information, please contact our Media Relations Team at USATNW.
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