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STATESVILLE A former Lincolnton banker was sentenced this week to seven years and three months in prison on his 2011 guilty pleas for using Facebook to distribute child pornography.
James Paul Byrd, 40, has been in federal custody since pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess child pornography and distribution of child pornography.
Byrd is a former branch manager at First Federal Savings Bank in Lincolnton.
A federal grand jury in November 2010 charged Byrd and five co-defendants from across the country with using Facebook to advertise, distribute and access child pornography, according to a federal indictment.
In August 2010, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Byrd’s home and seized numerous computers and storage media on which hundreds of child pornography images were found.
The images included violent depictions of children being raped and abused.
After serving his sentence, Byrd will be placed on 10 years of supervised release, Tompkins said.
U.S. District Judge Richard Voorhees also ordered Byrd to register as a sex offender after he’s released from prison.
