A Pierre, South Dakota woman has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Eric C. Schulte handed down the sentence to 23-year-old Mickenzie Tucker on September 22, 2025.
Tucker will also serve five years of supervised release after her prison term and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Additionally, she was ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution.
Tucker was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2024 and pleaded guilty on June 27, 2025.
According to court documents, between July 2023 and February 2024 Tucker received and distributed child pornography through instant messaging and social media platforms such as Discord and Wickr. The investigation began in September 2023 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided CyberTips indicating that Tucker had used her Discord account to store child pornography. In February 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Tucker’s residence in Pierre and seized multiple electronic devices containing illegal material. These devices will be forfeited to the United States.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc,” according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell.
The investigation involved several agencies: the South Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Pierre Police Department, and FBI. The prosecution was led by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Albertson.
Tucker is required to self-report to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service by October 6, 2025.
