Pocatello man found guilty of 11 child sex crimes in federal court
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POCATELLO — A man convicted of 11 charges involving the sexual exploitation of minors could face up to 300 years in federal prison.
Trenton Jared Powell, 43, was found guilty in federal court Tuesday following roughly 90 minutes of jury deliberation, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Paskett.
Powell was charged by the state with numerous felonies, including lewd conduct with a minor, in 2020. He was then indicted on federal charges in October 2021.
The federal indictment included six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of receipt of child pornography.
A trial began at the U.S. District Courthouse in Pocatello on April 24, Paskett told EastIdahoNews.com.
All evidence had been presented, and witness testimony was completed Monday afternoon. The jury was given its instructions around 3 p.m. Monday and given around 20 minutes to begin deliberation before leaving to reconvene Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.
The jury turned in its verdict just after 10 a.m., finding Powell guilty of all charges.
Because some of the documents in this case have been sealed, there is limited information available regarding the charges. What is known is that these charges are separate from those filed against Powell by the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office.
EastIdahoNews.com has requested an audio recording of the trial and will provide more in-depth details about the case when those recordings are obtained.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, witness testimony and evidence presented during the trial accused Powell sexually abusing his first minor victim over the course of six years. Powell photographed this abuse with his cell phone, the release says.
In Oct. 2021, Powell was charged with destruction of evidence. An affidavit of probable cause related to those charges alleged that Powell called his son — Tristan Jayce Powell — and wife — Rebekah Avery Dye — from Bannock County Jail and asked them to erase the storage on his phone.
Both Tristan and Dye pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for attempting to destroy evidence. However, forensic investigators were able to recover storage they had attempted to erase.
Two related felony charges — of destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy — have since been dismissed.
The release says that images recovered from the phone showed Powell sexually abusing the first victim.
Investigating these crimes was a collaborative effort, the release says, involving Homeland Security Investigations, Idaho Falls police and Pocatello police.
Powell faces 15 to 30 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each count of sexual exploitation. He faces 15 to 30 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for each count of attempted sexual exploitation and five to 20 and $250,000 in fines for each child pornography charge.
The mandatory minimum sentence, according to the release, is 15 years in prison.
“I am grateful that our office was able to prosecute this defendant for his heinous crimes and bring justice to the courageous victims,” U.S. Attorney Joshua Hurwit says in the release.
If and when he is released from prison, he could be subject to five years to life of supervised probation and $5,100 assessment fees for each of the 11 charges.
He is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on Aug. 15.
Due to the extensive prison sentence, Powell will now face in federal court, state charges are expected to be dismissed.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, three charges of lewd conduct with a minor against Powell remain outstanding in the state court system.