Blog

Aug 23, 2023

Southern District of Florida

MIAMI – Today, Dustin Singleton, 42, of Hobe Sound, Florida was sentenced to a total of 480 months’ imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M.

MIAMI – Today, Dustin Singleton, 42, of Hobe Sound, Florida was sentenced to a total of 480 months’ imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon, sitting in Fort Pierce, Florida, after pleading guilty to three counts of producing child sexual abuse material, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon.

In a separate sentencing hearing, Elijah Daniel Shaw, 22, of Port St Lucie, was sentenced to a total of 259 months’ imprisonment, followed by 15 years of supervised release, by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon, after pleading guilty to producing and possessing child sexual abuse material.

According to court records, on April 29, 2022, following a traffic stop in Stuart, Florida, Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) detectives found 32.86 grams of methamphetamine with a purity level of 98%, approximately 5 grams of cocaine, less than a gram of fentanyl, approximately 195 grams of marijuana, several glass pipes, hypodermic needles, a loaded Smith & Wesson, Bodyguard .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol, a loaded Glock type 9mm pistol built from a Polymer80 PF940C kit (“Glock clone”), several unused baggies, several pill bottles with various controlled substances, $1,104.00 in U.S. currency, 10 cellphones, and three tablets in Singleton’s vehicle. Singleton is a convicted felon and prohibited by law from possessing firearms.

Court records further indicated that, in July 2022, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent and two MCSO detectives received information that tattoo artist Singleton aka “Greenhouse” exchanged narcotics and tattoos for sexual activity with minor females at his Port St. Lucie tattoo shop. Two rounds of search warrants were obtained – the first one for narcotics and the second one for child sexual abuse material, which targeted Singleton’s electronic devices. Forensic examinations of the devices revealed numerous images of Singleton and Shaw, both engaging in sexually explicit activity with a freshly tattooed 13-year-old minor female victim—recorded inside the tattoo shop.

On August 2, 2022, law enforcement arrested Shaw who identified images/videos of himself, Singleton, and the 13-year-old minor female victim and confirmed that the video was recorded inside Singleton’s tattoo parlor. An HSI special agent applied for additional search warrants for Singleton’s and Shaw’s social media and iCloud accounts, which revealed additional videos of the child sexual abuse material, spanning in excess of six hours. The videos began with Singleton tattooing the 13-year-old, but later progressing to Singleton administering a smoking glass pipe to the victim, while he and Shaw both recorded themselves engaging in sexually explicit activity with the victim. In Singleton’s iCloud, investigators located additional videos revealing Singleton recorded additional tattoo shop sexual activity with two additional minor victims, each 17 years of age. Singleton recorded himself having sex with the minors, both with his iPhone and secretly, using his tattoo shop’s video surveillance system.

United States Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and acting Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Buckley, HSI, Miami, announced the sentence imposed.

HSI Fort Pierce Office investigated the case, with assistance from Martin County Sheriff’s Office, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, and Port St. Lucie Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carmen Lineberger and Michael Porter prosecuted it.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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, PSC 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 the PSC initiative and for information regarding Internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 22-cr-14048 and

Public Affairs Unit

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of Florida

[email protected]