Hammond man gets nearly 22 years for child porn

A Hammond man was sentenced to 262 months – or nearly 22 years – Thursday for child porn.

Michael Swiger, 41, was convicted of distribution and attempted distribution of child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor said in a release.

U.S. District Judge Gretchen Lund oversaw the three-day trial. He is ordered to pay $49,000 in restitution.

Defense lawyer Jerry Flynn wrote in court filings that Swiger “maintained his innocence.”

According to the criminal complaint, an undercover Homeland Security agent in St. Paul, Minnesota, was posing as a 26-year-old female named “April” on the social media messaging application KIK, using the screen name “Justagirl14f.” The agent had been chatting with Swiger, who mostly used the name Michael Johns with a screen name of “Armyman121983,”