Ocala, Florida – Benjamin Hoover (44, Ocala) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber to three years and 10 months in federal prison for attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor. Hoover pleaded guilty on January 7, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to court documents, on July 23, 2025, Hoover transferred a sexually explicit image of himself to someone whom he believed was a 15-year-old girl. In actuality, the minor was an undercover detective with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
This case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Middle District of Florida — U.S. Department of Justice press release.