Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Staff report
CLEVELAND
A 51-year-old Leetonia man has pleaded guilty to transmitting child pornography, interstate transportation of a 13-year-old girl for sex and forcing her and a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct for production of a visual depiction of such conduct.
Lucas J. Ippolito pleaded guilty to the charges Monday before U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Gaughan, who will sentence him Dec. 10.
Federal sentencing guidelines call for 30 years to life in prison in this case, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The indictment charged Ippolito with transporting 13- and 15-year-old girls from Pennsylvania to Ohio earlier this year to engage in sexual activity, forcing them to engage in sexually explicit conduct for production of a visual depiction of such conduct and possessing child pornography.
Ippolito also was charged with knowingly receiving and distributing between Jan. 6 and April 7, 2015, numerous computer files showing minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, the U.S. attorney said.
Ippolito pleaded guilty to four counts and the U.S. Attorney dropped the six other counts in the 10-count indictment.
The case was investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Youngstown FBI office.