McAlester man sentenced to federal prison | News

A McAlester man who pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possessing child pornography has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Oklahoma indicted Nathan Rex Upton, 34, in December 2022 on one count of coercion and enticement as well as one count of possession of certain materials involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.

A federal judge accepted Upton's guilty plea in November 2023 to the possession charge and dismissed the remaining count against the man.

Upton was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in federal prison, including 10 years of supervised release.

Records show Upton was also ordered to register as a sex offender and participate in mental health treatment. He is also not allowed to own a computer with Internet access, view pornography or reside in a residence where children under the age of 18 live.

The judge allowed Upton to serve his sentence at the federal prison in Seagoville, Texas, “to facilitate family contact.”

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, the Pittsburg County Sheriff's Department received a tip from the U.S. Secret Service that an individual, identified as Upton, was “involved in the sale and receipt of child pornography.” .

An arrest warrant was then served by PCSO deputies along with agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, other deputies and the McAlester Police Department at Upton's residence which shares the address of a in-home daycare located on East Comanche Avenue in McAlester.

The affidavit says Upton opened the door when law enforcement knocked and “began to re-enter the house” before being taken into custody.

According to the affidavit, Upton yelled at a woman inside the residence to “unplug” her equipment.

The report said law enforcement found books with cartoon illustrations depicting “juvenile subjects having sex with adults” and a “large number of USB drives” inside a room belonging to Upton. as well as several laptops and tablets.

In a separate room, law enforcement found “21 bankers’ boxes containing animation books” that depicted “minors having sexual relations with adults as well as photos of naked minors.”

“Some books were purchased and others were going to be sold by reviewing the prepared shipping labels,” the affidavit states.

A desktop computer tower that was in Upton's bedroom was seized during the warrant and would be analyzed by federal agents, the report states.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents wrote in a federal criminal complaint that they found a 5-terabyte hard drive containing several folders labeled with the first, last name and age of individuals in images and videos of the folders .

The guilty plea came after defense and prosecution attorneys filed a joint motion in May 2023 asking a federal judge to declare the case complex and continue Upton's June 2023 trial for six month.

The motion said the 5 terabyte hard drive was one of three encrypted hard drives seized from Upton's computer and that more evidence could be found against Upton as defense attorneys needed more time to prepare for trial and examine “the entirety of the documents allegedly possessed.” by the defendant. »

A computer search also uncovered online chats between Upton and what he believed to be a 13-year-old boy, the report states.

The chats show Upton paying the boy with gift cards in exchange for sexually explicit photos and videos, the affidavit states.