19 October, 2012
October 18, 2012
Boston - A Framingham man was sentenced today for possessing child pornography and threatening to injure the reputation of another.
Joshua M. Pizette, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf to 65 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Pizette pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and five counts of making threats to injure the reputation of another.
Pizette attempted to blackmail a young Massachusetts woman to provide him with nude photographs. Pizette, who knew the young woman and her family, anonymously contacted the young woman by email and threatened to place embarrassing information about her on the Internet if she did not send him nude photos. The young woman and her family contacted the police and an investigation revealed that Pizette had made the threats. Upon Pizette’s arrest, his computer was seized and a collection of photographs and videos of child pornography were found. None of the images appear to have been taken or made by Pizette.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Chief Richard A. Flannery of the Hopkinton Police Department; and the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council’s Computer Crimes Unit made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
