A 25-year-old Montreal man “with a shocking number of illegal files on his cell phone,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of New York, has been sentenced to six and a half years in a U.S. prison for transportation of child pornography. As part of a plea, Shneur Gurkow admitted to crossing the U.S.–Canada border at the Alexandria Bay, N.Y., port of entry “with more than 700 files of child pornography on his cell phone” in August 2025. “The more than 700 files carried across our border were not merely digital contraband,” said Anthony Patrone, acting special agent in charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “They depicted the sexual abuse of children whose trauma is compounded each time that material is shared.” Gurkow, who allegedly utilized social media platforms and foreign-based file-sharing applications to obtain child pornography “for years before entering the U.S. with it on his device,” was sentenced on Sept. 15. “This sentence holds the defendant accountable and helps prevent further circulation of material that inflicts lasting harm on victims and communities,” said Patrone. “HSI Syracuse will continue working with our law enforcement partners to identify offenders, protect children and pursue justice for victims of exploitation.” The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Gillis as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to “combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”
