United States v. Kapordelis

Gregory Kapordelis (defendant), a Georgia resident, engaged in sexual conduct with underage boys across state lines and in numerous foreign countries for the purpose of creating child pornography. Depending on the occasion, Kapordelis either travelled with the boy with whom he intended to engage in sexual conduct, or he found a boy after arriving at his destination. Kapordelis used cameras manufactured outside the State of Georgia to capture the pornographic images. During a trip to Russia, one of Kapordelis’s Russian victims reported Kapordelis to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stationed in Moscow. Based on the report, Kapordelis was arrested upon his return to the United States. During the arrest, ICE agents seized a computer, digital camera, and hard drive containing images of child pornography. ICE agents then searched Kapordelis’s home and found computers containing thousands of child-pornography images and videos. The federal government (plaintiff) charged Kapordelis with several counts related to the possession, receipt, and production of child pornography, including two charges under Section 2251(a) of the United States Code for incidents in which Kapordelis (1) created child pornography in Greece and then transported the pornographic images from Greece to Georgia; and (2) created child pornography using a camera that was shipped in interstate commerce and then transported the pornographic images from South Carolina to Georgia. Kapordelis was convicted and sentenced to 420 months in prison. Kapordelis appealed, arguing that (i) Section 2251(a) did not apply to an American national’s conduct abroad; and (ii) Georgia was an improper venue because the conduct outlawed by Section 2251(a) took place in either Greece or South Carolina, not Georgia.