Sioux City, Iowa — A Storm Lake man who was accused of receiving and possessing child pornography was sentenced December 9, 2020, to more than 18 years in federal prison.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, 35-year-old James Alan Sievers of Storm Lake recently received the prison term after a June 19, 2020, guilty plea to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
The US Attorney’s Office says that evidence at the plea hearing and sentencing showed that between June 5, 2019, and October 31, 2019, Sievers received and possessed visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including a depiction involving a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12 years of age. During the execution of a search warrant at Seivers’ residence on October 31, 2019, officers seized items belonging to Sievers. A forensic examiner found child pornography on some of Seivers’ items. Evidence also showed that Sievers saved some of his child pornography in an encrypted zip drive.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Sievers had three prior convictions in Buena Vista County for incest, failure to register as a sex offender, and sexual exploitation of a minor.
Sievers was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 220 months’ in federal prison. That’s about 18 years and four months. The US Attorney’s office says Sievers must also serve an 8-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
