Michigan – A Michigan man has admitted in federal court to crimes tied to the s**ual exploitation of a minor and the transportation of child po*nography, marking a major development in a case investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in metro Detroit.
Federal prosecutors said 48-year-old Shariq Alam entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Linda V. Parker in Detroit.
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The announcement was made by United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., alongside Jared Murphey, special agent in charge of HSI Detroit.
According to the Department of Justice, the investigation began to take shape in February 2025, when HSI received information from local law enforcement about communications between Alam, of Canton, and another individual already known to authorities.
Investigators were told the conversations involved the s**ual abuse of a minor child, prompting federal agents to move quickly for a search warrant.
When law enforcement searched Alam’s home, officers focused on a basement bedroom where they found a troubling setup.
Court records describe a cell phone holder and an external camera light attached to a nightstand and pointed toward a bed. Investigators also found s**ual toys, paraphernalia and several flash drives in the room.
A review of two of those flash drives uncovered multiple videos containing child po*nography, prosecutors said. Among them were videos involving an identified minor victim that authorities said had been created by Alam.
Investigators later determined that Alam had also uploaded child po*nography to his Google Drive account, adding a transportation component to the federal case.
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The guilty plea closes one chapter of the case, but the punishment phase still lies ahead. Alam is scheduled to be sentenced on August 12, 2026. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann Nee and Sean King.
Federal authorities did not announce further details about sentencing recommendations beyond the mandatory minimum, but the plea ensures the case will now move toward final judgment in the months ahead.