LOCKPORT, N.Y. — A Lockport man has pleaded guilty to the distribution of child pornography after an almost two-year-long investigation involving an undercover officer.
On Friday, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York Trini E. Ross announced that 52-year-old Gerard Dzierzanowski of Lockport agreed to a plea deal before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy.
Dzierzanowski faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright who handled the case, back in February of 2023, Dzierzanowski started talking with an undercover officer who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, first using the online messaging app Whisper and later the Kik Messenger app.
The undercover law enforcement officer was investigating users of both messenger apps engaging in criminal sexual activities with children.
The undercover officer reportedly told Dzierzanowski several times that she was 13 years old, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office but still sent multiple images and videos that were considered child pornography.
In August of 2023, a search warrant was executed at Dzierzanowski's home, where officers seized multiple digital images and videos of child pornography.
A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
