A Shenango Township man will spend nearly 3 years in federal prison for pleading guilty to transportation of child pornography.

Wesley J. Rowlands, 23, of 375 Gearhart Road, was sentenced Wednesday to 33 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Lancaster, Pittsburgh, said the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Rowlands also will serve 3 years of supervised release, the federal equivalent of probation, after his prison time.

Rowlands pleaded guilty July 1 and accepted responsibility for a second charge of possession of child pornography, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Picking.

While accepting responsibility is not a guilty plea, it could be used in determining his sentence, Ms. Picking said.

An undercover Los Angeles sheriff's deputy struck up an Internet conversation with Rowlands in a chat room, and Rowlands e-mailed him two photographs of child pornography over the Internet Oct. 7, 1999, Ms. Picking said.

The deputy told Rowlands he was a 12-year-old boy, and their conversation was sexual in nature, she said.

Investigators arranged to deliver a video of child pornography to Rowlands' home, Ms. Picking said. They obtained an anticipatory search warrant from a judge, so that, if Rowlands accepted the video, investigators could immediately search his home, she said.

Rowlands accepted the video and the search was conducted Nov. 10, 1999.

Lancaster told Rowlands he was concerned that Rowlands had asked someone whom he believed to be 12 years old to engage in sexual activity for money, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The judge also said Rowlands has taken steps to address his problems, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The case was investigated by the Western Pennsylvania Crimes Against Children Task Force, a coalition of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, a hospital and a victims' rights agency.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at jpinchot@sharonherald.com