Crawfordville Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Enticement of a Minor & Attempted Transmission of Obscene Material

Tallahassee, Florida - Anthony Wayne Lanier Jr., 34, from of Crawfordville, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count attempted transmission of obscene material. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "Our state and federal law enforcement partners are working hard every day to keep our kids safe from sexual predators like this defendant online, and my office will aggressively prosecute those criminal deviants to ensure they are sent to federal prison for attempting to victimize and sexually exploit children."

Court documents reflect that on November 20, 2025, the defendant communicated online with an individual he believed to be a child, but was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. The defendant repeatedly asked the child to send inappropriate photos, asked to commit sexual acts on the child and her friend, and sent a picture of his genitalia. The defendant then drove to an agreed upon location where he believed he would be meeting the child, but he was instead arrested by law enforcement upon arriving.

Lanier faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years' imprisonment and up to life in prison for attempted enticement of a minor, and up to 10 years' imprisonment for transmitting obscene material. He also faces up to a lifetime of supervision upon release.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 13, 2026, at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida before United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle.

The case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Tallahassee Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Meredith L. Steer is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it marshals 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.projectsafechildhood.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of FloridaLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.