Former Customs and Border Protection Agent Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

DETROIT - A former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent was sentenced to five years in federal prison yesterday for receiving child pornography, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. announced.

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The sentencing follows Harry Marvelle Peless's February 2026 plea to one count of receipt of child pornography. In addition to the custodial sentence, Peless will be on supervised release for a period of eight years following his release from custody and was ordered to pay fines totaling $25,000.

Law enforcement began investigating Peless, 51 of Newport, Michigan, after he sent sexual messages to an undercover officer in New Jersey who was posing as a minor. Peless started communicating with the undercover in September 2024, and his contacts with the nominal teen girl became a near daily occurrence. At the time of the offense, Peless was employed as a Marine Border Protection Agent at the Gibraltar, Michigan, CBP station. Following the filing of charges in this matter, CBP placed Peless on unpaid administrative leave. Evidence recovered during the investigation showed that Peless had received child pornography over the internet, and that he was logged into the chat account he used to communicate with the undercover officer while he was at the Gibraltar CBP station.

Peless faces additional criminal charges in New Jersey for attempting to entice a minor.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eaton Brown.