Vallie Francis Zeller, Attempted Sex Crimes, Illinois 2023

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A federal jury returned guilty verdicts against Vallie Francis Zeller, 46, for several attempted sex crimes against a minor. The jury found Zeller guilty of Attempted Enticement of a Minor, Travel with Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.

Zeller started conversing online with a 15-year-old girl in June 2020. The girl was an undercover FBI agent posing as a minor. Zeller began sexually explicit conversations with the agent, requested sexually explicit images of the minor, and made plans to meet for illegal sexual activity, knowing she was a minor.

Zeller was convicted of driving across the Missouri-Illinois border to engage in criminal sexual activity once the agent gave him an address for a residence in Collinsville to meet the purported minor. In addition, during the conversation over several days, Zeller asked the alleged girl for nude photographs and other sexually-explicit content.

The investigation was led by the FBI Springfield Field Office and assisted by multiple local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ali Burns and Zoe Gross are prosecuting the case.

Zeller faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for July 18, 2023.

The case is part of an operation that targeted online predators attempting to meet minors for sex. Zeller was one of 14 defendants charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Illinois in June 2020.

The defendants charged included:

Vallie Francis Zeller, Attempted Enticement of a Minor, Travel with Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Defendant: Vallie Francis Zeller

Criminal Charges: Attempted Enticement of a Minor, Travel with Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

City and State: East St. Louis, Illinois

Date: Wednesday, (no date specified)

Sentence: Mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and sentencing is scheduled for July 18, 2023

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/jury-convicts-st-louis-man-attempted-sex-crimes-against-minor