A Warren County man received a five-year federal prison sentence in Raleigh Monday in a child pornography case.

Michael Wyatt Collius, 23, of Norlina, must also serve five years of supervised release upon the completion of his sentence and pay more than $68,000 in restitution to known child pornography victims identified during the investigation.

Chief United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced the man following a plea deal in November in which Collius admitted his guilt to one count of receipt of child pornography.

The indictment for the count Collius pleaded guilty to says he received digital images involving the use of one or more minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Robert J. Higdon Jr. said in a statement that in September of 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Raleigh assisted the Spanish National Police Cyber Child Pornography Group II Technology Investigation Unit with an investigation into Dropbox users sharing child pornography.  

Investigators were able to determine that one of the accounts responsible for sharing child pornography belonged to Collius. 

Following additional investigation, a search warrant was obtained for the man’s residence.  

On May 3 of 2018, investigators with the FBI and Warren County Sheriff’s Office executed the warrant and seized his phone.  

A later forensic review recovered more than 800 images and more than 200 videos containing child pornography. Collius agreed to speak with investigators at the time of the search and admitted to receiving, sharing and possessing child pornography.  

This case is part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level.  

Assistant United States Attorney Bryan M. Stephany represented the government.