Investigations
Former Federal Highway Administration Engineer Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Child Pornography
USAO, Eastern District of California - Press ReleaseSummary
On March 17, 2016, Eric Worrell, a former civil engineer with FHWA, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Sacramento, CA, to 5 years in prison, to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. In December 2015, Worrell pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography. Worrell will be required to register as a sex offender.
DOT-OIG initiated its investigation after a thumb drive was found in a hallway outside FHWA’s Sacramento offices. The thumb drive was given to DOT-OIG, which used computer forensic techniques to determine that it belonged to Worrell. A forensic examination of the thumb drive and of Worrell’s Government-owned computer was conducted and revealed hundreds of images of child erotica and child pornography. A search of his personal computer also revealed additional images of child pornography.
We conducted this investigation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations.