Dustin Coffelt

Convicted and sentenced. Dustin Coffelt, 37, of Depew, New York, was convicted of production and possession of child pornography and sentenced to serve 30 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. He admitted to detectives that he sexually abused a 13-year-old girl and produced sexually explicit photographs of her.

Introduction

Dustin Coffelt is a Depew, New York, man whose federal child-pornography case ended with a 30-year prison sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo. Coffelt was convicted of production and possession of child pornography, and the sentence was announced on October 2, 2026, by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo of the Western District of New York.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maeve E. Huggins and Sasha Mascarenhas, and the sentencing followed an investigation by the Depew Police Department, the Cheektowaga Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Background Information

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in July 2022 the Depew Police Department received a report that Coffelt sexually abused a 13-year-old girl, identified in the release as the minor victim. A subsequent investigation determined that the alleged abuse may have been ongoing for several years and included communication over various social media applications and text messaging.

On July 29, 2022, Coffelt provided a voluntary statement to detectives from the Depew and Cheektowaga Police Departments admitting to the sexual abuse and to producing sexually explicit photographs of the minor victim. He also voluntarily provided his phone to the detectives, and the extraction of the device revealed numerous sexually explicit images of the minor victim, which constitute child pornography. Members of the FBI subsequently arrested Coffelt on August 11, 2022.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The incident documented in the Justice Department release is the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl and the production and possession of child pornography depicting her. The case began in July 2022, when the Depew Police Department received a report that Coffelt had sexually abused the girl. Investigators later determined that the alleged abuse may have been ongoing for several years, and that it included communication over various social media applications and text messaging.

The admissions came quickly after the report. On July 29, 2022, Coffelt gave a voluntary statement to detectives from the Depew and Cheektowaga Police Departments admitting to the sexual abuse and to producing sexually explicit photographs of the minor victim. He voluntarily turned over his phone, and the extraction of that device revealed numerous sexually explicit images of the girl — images that constitute child pornography. The FBI arrested him on August 11, 2022, less than two weeks after his statement.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The Justice Department release documents official action rather than public commentary: the FBI arrest on August 11, 2022, the convictions for production and possession of child pornography, and the 30-year prison sentence imposed by Judge Vilardo. The outcome was made public in a release issued by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo’s office on October 2, 2026.

The concrete consequences recorded in the release are the 30-year sentence itself and the fact that the evidence against Coffelt included his own voluntary statement admitting the abuse and the photographs, along with the sexually explicit images recovered from the phone he provided to detectives.

Current Status

As of the October 2, 2026 announcement, Dustin Coffelt, 37, has been convicted of production and possession of child pornography and sentenced to serve 30 years in prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maeve E. Huggins and Sasha Mascarenhas. The sentencing resulted from an investigation by the Depew Police Department, under the direction of Chief James McNamara; the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief Brian Coons; and the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis, II.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The release contains no employment or personal-history details about Coffelt; its account of the impact on his life is the sentence itself. At 37, he has been ordered to serve 30 years in federal prison following his conviction for producing and possessing child pornography depicting a 13-year-old girl he admitted abusing — a term built on the report that began the case in July 2022, his voluntary admissions to Depew and Cheektowaga detectives that July, and the images recovered from his phone.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, “Depew man going to prison for 30 years for production and possession of child pornography,” October 2, 2026 — source