Date: 01-18-2021

Case Style:

Case Number: 4:19-cr-00421-JM

Judge: James M. Moody Jr.

Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (Pulaski County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office, Little Rock, Arkansas

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description: Little Rock, Arkansas extortion charge criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant, Devion Cumbie, ate 25, with extortion and production of child pornography.

In June 2020, in the first federal criminal jury trial in the state since the coronavirus pandemic began, a federal jury found Cumbie guilty on all seven counts for which he was indicted: production of child pornography, two counts of attempted production of child pornography, and four counts of extortion.

Testimony during the trial established that in late 2018, a 16-year-old girl in Colorado sent a Facebook message to “Chink Capone,” the online persona of an actor named Alex Drummond. However, the Facebook page actually belonged to Cumbie, posing as Drummond’s online persona. The two began talking, and Cumbie told the minor he might like to meet her soon but would first need to see some photographs of her in her underwear. Cumbie eventually convinced the minor to send him a partially nude photograph. Cumbie then threatened the minor that he would post the photo to her Facebook page unless she sent him a video of herself naked. The minor told her mother, and they reported the conduct to police.

Investigation revealed that Cumbie had conducted a similar scheme with numerous other victims, some of whom were minors. Additionally, Cumbie was on pretrial release awaiting trial on federal gun charges while he engaged in the conduct that led to the child pornography and extortion charges. Cumbie was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2019, and his first trial in February 2020 ended in a hung jury. His second trial resulted in his October 2020 conviction. Cumbie is still awaiting trial on the separate firearms charge.

In addition to the 300 month prison sentence, Judge Moody sentenced Cumbie to 15 years of supervised release. The statutory penalty for production of child pornography, as well as attempted production of child pornography, is not less than 15 years imprisonment, not more than 30 years imprisonment, and not less than five years of supervised release. The statutory penalty for extortion is not more than two years imprisonment and not more than one year of supervised release. All offenses of conviction include a potential penalty of not more than a $250,000 fine.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kristin Bryant and Erin O’Leary.

18:2251(a), 18:2251(e) and 18:3147(1) Attempted Production of Child Pornography
(1s)

18:875(d) and 18:3147(1) Extortion
(2s-3s)

18:2251(a), 18:2251(e) and 18:3147(1) Attempted Production of Child Pornography
(4s)

18:875(d) and 18:3147(1) Extortion
(5s)

18:2251(a), 18:2251(e) and 18:3147(1) Production of Child Pornography
(6s)

18:875(d) and 18:3147(1) Extortion
(7s)

Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 180 MONTHS on Counts 1s, 4s, and 6s to run concurrent with one another; and 24 MONTHS on Counts 2s, 3s, 5s, and 7s to run consecutive to one another and consecutive to sentences imposed on Counts 1s, 4s, and 6s. Additionally, each count carries a statutory penalty enhancement of 24 months (as the offense occurred while on pretrial release) to run concurrent with one another and consecutive to the sentences imposed on all other counts for a TOTAL SENTENCE OF 300 MONTHS IMPRISONMENT. 15 YEARS SUPERVISED RELEASE on Counts 1s, 4s, and 6s; and ONE (1) YEAR on Counts 2s, 3s, 5s, and 7s, all to run concurrently. $700 total special penalty assessment.

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Defendant's Experts:

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