Former Customs and Border Protection agent to serve 5 years in child pornography case

A former Customs and Border Protection agent living in Southeast Michigan was sentenced to five years in federal prison for receiving child pornography. 

Harry Marvelle Peless III, 51, of Newport, was sentenced on Oct. 7 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the district attorney's office said. He had pleaded guilty in February 2026 to one count of child pornography. After the prison term, he will be on supervised release for eight years and was ordered to pay $25,000 in fines. 

According to court records, Peless, who at the time was employed as a Marine Border Protection Agent at the Gibraltar Customs and Border Protection station, sent sexual messages to an undercover officer who was posing as a minor.  

Federal prosecutors say Peless began communicating with the undercover agent in September 2024. The undercover agent, who was in New Jersey, posed as a teenage girl. Some of the conversations took place while he was at work at the Gibraltar CBP station, the district attorney's office said. 

After the filing of charges in the investigation, Peless was placed on unpaid administrative leave. 

He faces additional criminal charges in New Jersey on accusations of attempting to entice a minor, the district attorney's office said.