Schenectady County Man Sentenced to 120 Months for Attempted Coercion and Enticement of a Minor
ALBANY, NEW YORK / Tuesday, May 19, 2026 – Gary Yorkshire, age 69, of Scotia, New York, was sentenced May 12, 2026, to 120 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release for the attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. Yorkshire was arrested as part of Operation Restore Justice.
First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.
As part of his guilty plea, Yorkshire admitted that on or about May 1, 2025, he communicated with an individual to discuss and plan his sexual abuse of a person he believed to be a 12-year-old child. Upon arriving at a pre-determined location, Yorkshire paid $250 cash to an undercover agent so he could engage in “regular sex” with the child. Yorkshire was arrested by law enforcement shortly thereafter.
“Prosecuting those who prey on our children is amongst the most important work we do at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” Said First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III. “This Administrations commitment to our children via Operation Restore Justice should be a clear message to anyone wishing to engage in nefarious crimes against children, you will be caught and you will face justice. Mr. Yorkshire will be spending the next 120 months behind bars and upon release be an octogenarian subject to additional post release supervision to ensure he does not seek to reoffend.”
In addition to the imprisonment and supervised release terms, United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci also ordered Yorkshire to pay a $5,000 fine. Yorkshire also will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig A. Tremaroli stated: “Operation Restore Justice highlighted the tremendous partnerships on FBI Albany’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. By leveraging those partnerships, we removed eight dangerous predators from our communities in just five days. As Mr. Yorkshire heads to federal prison for the next decade, FBI Albany will continue to work with those partners at every level of law enforcement to swiftly identify, investigate, and bring to justice any predator looking to harm our children.”
This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the New York State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Paulbeck and A.J. Vickey prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York
