Sacramento, California - Mark A. Richards, 49, of Sacramento, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to 17 years and six months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release for advertising child pornography, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, in January 2018, Richards made child pornography available over a peer-to-peer file sharing network and provided passwords to undercover officers who asked him for access to his files. On two occasions, January 7, 2018, and January 11, 2018, those undercover officers in locations outside California obtained child pornography from Richards.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew G. Morris prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 the 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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.