Mark Brueggemann

A Waterloo man has entered a guilty plea in federal court on a child pornography charge, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Steven D. Weinhoeft announced Monday.

Mark A. Brueggemann, 60, of Waterloo, is convicted of knowingly receiving child porn. Brueggemann pleaded guilty to a one-count federal indictment without a plea agreement.

He now faces a prison sentence of five to 20 years on the charge. Sentencing is set for March 27, 2019, at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The prosecution of Brueggemann came as a result of an investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and United States Secret Service’s Springfield Electronic Crime Unit-Southern Illinois Cyber Group.

Brueggemann had worked as an attorney at a law firm in Collinsville, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.