Petal man pleads guilty to child exploitation. He's going to prison.
Lici Beveridge
A Petal man pleaded guilty to child exploitation and was sentenced to five years in prison Monday, following his plea.
Samuel Cascio, 34, was arrested in October 2018 during a statewide effort led by the Attorney General's Cyber Crimes Division.
Eight men were arrested during Operation Trick or Treat and charged with at least one count of child exploitation.
Cascio also will serve five years of post-release supervision and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine to the Office of the Attorney General Victims Compensation Fund and an additional $1,000 to the Mississippi Department of Human Services Children's Trust Fund.
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He must also register as a sex offender and forfeit his rights to assets obtained during the investigation, Attorney General Lynn Fitch said.
"I want to thank the men and women of our Cyber Crime Division and our partners at the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations for all of their hard work during this operation," she said in a news release. "I will continue to do everything in my power to bring those like Mr. Cascio, who exploit children, to justice."
Contact Lici Beveridge at 601-584-3104 or lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @licibev.