Marquis Drakeford Bynum, a 45-year-old resident of Charlotte, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) involving a prepubescent minor and for violating his federal supervised release. This announcement was made by Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Max O. Cogburn Jr. ordered Bynum to serve a lifetime of supervised release, register as a sex offender upon release from prison, and pay $33,000 in restitution.
James C. Barnacle, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Charlotte Division, joined U.S. Attorney Ferguson in making this announcement.
Court records indicate that Bynum violated the terms of his federal supervised release following his 2007 conviction for transporting and possessing CSAM. On August 16, 2023, the U.S. Probation Office conducted a search of Bynum’s residence under his probationary terms and recovered two cell phones and a flash drive containing thousands of images and videos depicting child sexual abuse involving minors as young as toddlers. New federal charges were filed against him after this discovery.
Bynum pleaded guilty on April 10, 2024, to possession of child pornography involving minors under the age of 12. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons once a facility is designated.
U.S. Attorney Ferguson expressed gratitude towards the FBI for their work on this case and commended the U.S. Probation Office for their assistance in investigating Bynum.
Assistant United States Attorney Kimlani Ford prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
