Albany County Man Sentenced to 87 Months for Receipt of Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK - Taykwun Smoaks, age 32, of Albany, was sentenced today to 87 months in prison for receipt of child pornography. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Erin Keegan, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Steven G. James made the announcement.

As part of his prior guilty plea, Smoaks admitted that from February to March 2023, he received and possessed images and videos of child pornography on his computer and external hard drive. Smoaks admitted that he downloaded more than 600 videos and 22,000 still images, including images of prepubescent minors, images that involved sadistic and masochistic conduct, and images involving the sexual abuse of toddlers and infants.

United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci also ordered Smoaks to serve a 15-year term of post-incarceration supervised release; to pay restitution of $3,000 to each of 15 victims for a total amount of $45,000 in restitution; and to forfeit the electronic devices used to commit the offense. Smoaks will also be required to register as a sex offender after his release from prison.

HSI and NYSP investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Wentworth-Ping prosecuted the case.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney's offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and is designed to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.