Justin Levi Marino has been sentenced for the possession and distribution of child pornography and for violating the conditions of his supervised release for a prior child exploitation federal conviction.
“Child pornography is an especially heinous crime involving those who exploit and abuse children and infants to produce these disturbing and horrific images, and the individuals who create the demand for this vile material by possessing and distributing it,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “The collaborative efforts of the FBI, U.S. Probation Office, and the U.S. Marshals Service made it possible to stop this predator from continuing to victimize more children and their families.”
“Each time Marino viewed or distributed the unconscionable images of innocent young children, they were re-victimized,” said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The fact he is a repeat sex offender only underscores why we strive every day to protect our children and will continue to use every law enforcement resource available to identify and prosecute individuals who exploit them in such a manner.”
“Due to the hard work of multiple components of the Department of Justice, Justin Levi Marino is no longer able to menace society and will never again victimize children with his deviant behavior. Child predators are a scourge on our community, and the U.S. Marshals Services considers it amongst our highest priorities to remove these offenders from our communities,” said Thomas E. Brown, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia.
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: In 2007, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia sentenced Justin Levi Marino to 12 years and six months for using a computer to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.
A little more than one year after completing this sentence, in June 2020, during the initial lockdown stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a concerned citizen contacted the Atlanta Police Department on the suspicion that a 16-year-old child, who had been reported missing in another state, was living with Marino in his apartment in the Atlanta area. The U.S. Probation Office for the Northern District of Georgia was notified and immediately obtained an arrest warrant based on Marino’s suspected violation of his supervised release condition prohibiting contact with a child under the age of 18 years old. The U.S. Probation Office and the U.S. Marshals Service for the Northern District of Georgia recovered the minor and arrested Marino at his apartment.
Following Marino’s arrest, the FBI recovered hundreds of images of child pornography and chats on various social media applications from his cell phone. Investigators also established that Marino distributed images of child pornography to other users.
Justin Levi Marino, 45, of Poland, Ohio, was sentenced to 22 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. Marino pleaded guilty to the charges of possession and distribution of child pornography on August 26, 2022.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sekret T. Sneed prosecuted the case.
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
