Convicted felon from Gasport sentenced to 15 years for child pornography

United States Attorney Trini E. Ross, Western District of New York

BUFFALO – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Jason David Willis, 50, of Gasport, who was convicted of receipt of child pornography following a prior conviction, was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that in 2011, Willis was sentenced to serve 132 months in prison following his conviction on a federal child pornography charge.

On May 18, 2021, an acquaintance of Willis’ brought his iPhone to the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office and stated that it contained child pornography. The following day, on May 19, 2021, a U.S. Probation Officer searched the iPhone and observed two videos in the “recently deleted” folder on the phone that were produced by Willis on October 24 and October 28, 2020. Both videos depicted explicit images of a 17-year-old minor female. Further review of the iPhone revealed internet history for at least one website containing child pornography.

At the time of his second arrest, Willis was on federal supervised release from his previous conviction and a registered sex offender.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Stansbury, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Michael Felicetti, and the U.S. Probation Department, under the direction of Chief Probation Officer Timothy C. Englerth.