Michael Howie

HAMMOND — A 41-year-old man from Hammond was sentenced Thursday to 262 months in prison — nearly 21 years — after a jury found him guilty in Hammond federal court in December of sharing explicit child sexual abuse material.

Michael Swiger was convicted of distribution and attempted distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography of a minor under the age of 12 after a three-day jury trial in front of U.S. District Court Judge Gretchen Lund.

Swiger will also serve a lifetime of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence and must pay $49,000 in restitution to his victims.

“Today’s sentence stands as a warning to all those who believe distributing and collecting images and videos of the sexual abuse of children will be ignored or tolerat

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