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Andrew Ramey, 34, of Brick, pleaded guilty on Tuesday by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti to a possession of child pornography charge, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, between March 13, 2020, and June 8, 2020, Ramey allegedly downloaded and shared material containing images of child sexual abuse, via the BitTorrent Network, a publicly available online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network of linked computers.
Users must download P2P software, which is widely available for free on the Internet, Honig said. The software allows the user to place files into a designated “shared” folder on his or her hard drive, from which other BitTorrent users can then download those files directly to the “shared” folders of their own computers, she said. Users can then search, select, and directly download, those files.
Law enforcement used investigative software to access the BitTorrent Network and downloaded video files containing images of child sexual abuse from a device or devices assigned to an IP address at Ramey’s residence, Honig said.
On Nov. 13, 2020, law enforcement searched Ramey’s residence and seized mobile phones belonging to Ramey, the prosecutor said. Analysis revealed the phones contained thousands of images and videos containing images of child sexual abuse, as well as BitTorrent software, according to Honig.
In a prior federal prosecution in 2018, Ramey was convicted of one count of possession of child pornography in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
For a repeat offender, the possession charge carries a mandatory penalty of 10 to 20 years in federal prison along with a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary gain or loss, whichever is greater.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 12, 2022.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander E. Ramey of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton handled the case, a result of "Project Safe Childhood."
Honig credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Atlantic City, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina in Newark; detectives of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer; the Brick Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Riccio; and the Mount Laurel Police Department, under the direction of Chief Stephen Riedener, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
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