FLORIDA – A Florida man has been sentenced to 42 months behind bars following his conviction for failing to register as a sex offender, Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, has announced.
According to Coody, Octavius Durdley, 43, of Gainesville, received the sentence following his conviction on one count of failing to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Durdley was convicted by a federal jury in February 2022.
Evidence introduced at trial revealed Durdley was originally convicted and sentenced in 2010 of a federal sex offense which required him to comply with both state and federal registration requirements, the United States Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Upon his release in May 2019, he initially complied with SORNA’s registration requirements. However, in October 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office said Durdley announced his intention not to comply with any supervision or registration requirements.
In December 2019, he was found to have violated his federal supervision and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment. Following his release from prison in January 2021, he again failed to comply with his supervision or registration requirements until he was arrested in April 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“This sentence is yet another example of the unwavering commitment to the protection of our most vulnerable and should serve as a significant deterrent to those who would attempt to harm them,” said Coody.
“We will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who prey upon our children.”
Durdley’s prison sentence will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, with requirements that he continue to register under SORNA.
The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), which was passed by Congress in 2006 as part of the Adam Walsh Act, provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States and seeks to strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs.
In part, SORNA requires registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school.
The conviction was the result of an investigation by the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney F.T. Williams prosecuted this case.
