Dahir Muktar

Introduction

Dahir Muktar is a 33-year-old man from Lewiston, Maine, whose name entered the public record through the federal courts. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine, a jury found him guilty on April 15, 2026, of attempted sex trafficking of minors, and on October 20, 2026, U.S. District Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced him to 15 years in prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. The office’s announcement put the basis of the case plainly: Muktar was sentenced “after agreeing to pay for sex with children.” This page sets out what that public record shows.

Background Information

The documented record of Muktar’s background is thin. The government’s release identifies him as 33 years old and a resident of Lewiston at the time of sentencing, and it offers nothing about his occupation, education, or family. What the record does document is the enforcement response: the case was investigated by the Maine State Police and Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Bangor Police Department and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. It was prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine and brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative against child sexual exploitation.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. A federal jury found Muktar guilty of attempted sex trafficking of minors on April 15, 2026, and Judge Stacey D. Neumann sentenced him on October 20, 2026, to 15 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.

According to court records cited in the release, Muktar was arrested in January 2025 after he offered money for sex with “purported minors” using his cell phone. The charge of conviction was an attempt offense, and the release’s own wording marks that: the minors were “purported” — described as minors in the communications cited by prosecutors — and the announcement does not identify who was on the other side of those communications or describe any completed offense.

From that arrest, the case moved to trial. On April 15, 2026, a jury returned guilty verdicts for attempted sex trafficking of minors. A jury verdict resolves the question the pending charges had kept open: the presumption of innocence that protected Muktar while his case was awaiting trial gave way to a conviction once the government met its burden of proof.

Sentencing followed on October 20, 2026, in U.S. District Court. Judge Neumann imposed 15 years of imprisonment — the announcement’s own subheading states that Muktar was sentenced “after agreeing to pay for sex with children” — to be followed by 15 years of supervised release.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, the program marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, and to identify and rescue victims.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The sentencing release includes no statements from prosecutors or investigating agencies, so the documented response is the official record itself: a January 2025 arrest, guilty verdicts on April 15, 2026, and a sentence announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine on October 20, 2026. The consequences recorded there are legal ones — a federal felony conviction for attempted sex trafficking of minors, 15 years in prison, and 15 years of supervised release afterward. The number of agencies involved — the Maine State Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bangor Police Department, and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency — reflects how the enforcement effort was organized across levels of government.

Current Status

Muktar’s status is defined by his sentence. As of the October 20, 2026 announcement, the 33-year-old had been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, a court-ordered period of supervision that begins after incarceration. The case was handled in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine before Judge Stacey D. Neumann, and the release, updated the day of sentencing, lists Assistant United States Attorneys Chris Ruge and Anne K. Yereniuk as contacts. No appeal is mentioned in the release, and no post-sentencing developments have been announced through it.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The sentence is now the controlling fact of Muktar’s life: 15 years of imprisonment will be followed by 15 years of supervised release, so his contact with the criminal justice system extends across decades. The release contains no employment information, so career consequences in the ordinary sense cannot be documented from this source. What the record does establish is a federal felony conviction for attempted sex trafficking of minors, found by a jury on April 15, 2026, which will remain part of his permanent record.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine, “Lewiston Man Sentenced for Attempted Sex Trafficking of Minors,” published October 20, 2026 — source