FTA linked below. “Although Salamak was arrested last October, authorities had known about his activity since May 2017, when an undercover officer responded to a Craigslist ad Salamak posted. The ad was seeking “Woman/Moms that are into Cheese Pizza,” a description for child pornography, authorities said.”
So, why did it take 6 months to arrest him? Seems like a long time to me. https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/lodi/2018/11/15/ex-corrections-officer-lodi-sentenced-5-years-child-porn/2013442002/
Looks like a broader investigation starting with the ad, they didn’t want to alert other perps
I found another article, regarding the law enforcement undercover officer who originally caught him.
https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/wyckoff/police-fire/nj-prison-guard-from-lodi-who-thought-he-was-pursuing-girl-8-gets-five-years-in-fed-pen/744660/
“The mother actually was a role-playing investigator from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
The undercover investigator had responded to a Craigslist ad posted by Salamak, a criminal complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark alleges.”
FTA “Stephen Salamak, 39, must serve the full term handed down Thursday in U.S. District Court in Newark because there is no parole in the FEDERAL prison system.” My emphasis added.
Why was it charged at the Federal Level when the County Prosecutor’s office found him?
The article mentions this, “Carpenito credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the investigation leading to the plea secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman, chief of his Public Protection Unit in Newark.”