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Hugh Cohen, 65, of Elizabeth, served nearly all of a five-year federal prison sentence for possessing and receiving child pornography in 2010.
Supervised release, which was a requirement of his sentence, was to run from the end of October 2014 to the end of October 2021, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
While still on supervised release, from March 28, 2021, to April 24, 2021, Cohen “engaged an undercover agent in an ongoing sexually graphic conversation on a web-based application,” Sellinger said.
“Cohen sent the undercover agent multiple images depicting the sexual abuse of children,” the U.S. attorney said. “Law enforcement also subsequently discovered numerous images of child sexual abuse on Cohen’s cellphone.”
Rather than risk the potential outcome of a trial, Cohen took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to distributing child pornography.
Cohen will have to serve just about all of the 10-year sentence handed down in federal court in Newark on Tuesday, Oct. 3, because there’s no parole in the federal prison system.
U.S. District Judge William J. Martini also sentenced Cohen to lifetime supervised release and ordered him to register as a sex offender.
Sellinger credited special agents with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations Newark with the investigation leading to plea and sentencing, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney DeNae M. Thomas of his Criminal Division in Newark.
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