Michigan Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation Offenses

Miami - A Farmington, Michigan man has been sentenced to 240 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) of children under the age of 13.

U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks imposed the sentence on Ahmed Sultan Faraz, 30, on September 10.

According to court records, between September and October 2021, Faraz and five co-conspirators participated in a private chat room on a social networking application. Entry into the chatroom required participants to distribute CSAM of children under the age of 13. Once admitted, Faraz distributed CSAM and engaged in discussions with more than 50 other individuals about the sexual abuse of children. The children in the images and videos were as young as 4 years old.

In a post-Miranda interview, Faraz admitted to communicating online with five or six minors. Forensic evidence obtained from his electronic devices revealed that Faraz produced CSAM with at least two of these children and attempted to produce CSAM with a third.

In 2024, Faraz had a pending application to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States, which has since been denied.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami, and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office made the announcement.

HSI West Palm Beach and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigated the case as part of a joint effort of the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Chase prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about the Project Safe Childhood initiative and for information regarding Internet safety, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at https://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at https://http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 25-cr-80036.

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