A 30-year-old Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to serve 30 years in federal prison for cyber-stalking and child pornography offenses.
Joseph J. Ostrowski, 29, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was sentenced yesterday to serve 30 years in federal prison by a federal judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania for offenses that included a charge of cyber-stalking in the Western District of Michigan.
The investigation of the cyber-stalking charge by the Lansing, Michigan FBI and the Michigan State University Police Department (MSUPD) resulted in the execution of a federal search warrant for Ostrowski’s residence in Wilkes-Barre in May 2012. That search resulted not only in the seizure of evidence of cyber-stalking of MSU students, but also in the discovery that Ostrowski – at the time the head football coach of a local high school – was committing numerous child-pornography felonies in Pennsylvania.
Charged both in the Western District of Michigan with cyber-stalking and in the Middle District of Pennsylvania with numerous child pornography felonies, Ostrowski pled guilty to both cases in Pennsylvania as part of a plea agreement that allowed for the transfer of the Michigan case to Pennsylvania for guilty-plea and sentencing.
The investigation began in 2011 after MSUPD was made aware of MSU student social-networking sites being compromised and exploited by a then-unknown perpetrator to harass, threaten, and intimidate MSU students. When investigation by the MSU Police Computer Forensic Unit obtained information indicating that the perpetrator resided outside of Michigan, the Lansing FBI was contacted for assistance and joined the investigation. Working together, FBI and MSUPD obtained and executed the federal search warrant that resulted in Ostrowski’s arrest and ultimate conviction.
Commenting on the sentences, U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr. stated, “Internet communications and social networking are positive in many respects, but they can also be very dangerous. Those who criminally exploit others through the Internet and social networks deserve prosecution. Thanks to the outstanding work of MSUPD and the FBI, there’s one more on-line predator out there who won’t be logging on again anytime soon.”
Defendant: Joseph J. Ostrowski
Crime: Cyber-stalking and Child Pornography
City and State: Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Exact Date: May 2012
Sentence or Outcome: 30 years in federal prison
Related Federal Cases
- Daniel Joseph Salgat, Child Pornography Production, Michigan 2023 · Virginia
- David Eric Yellen, Distributing Child Pornography, Michigan 2023 · North Carolina
- Justin Jack Miller, Child Pornography Production, Michigan 2023 · Washington
- Justin Jack Miller, Child Pornography Production, Michigan 2022 · Washington
- Ashton Connor Garcia, Swatting & Extortion, Washington 2024 · Colorado
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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