Authorities in Virginia investigate, pursue, and prosecute child pornography possessors, distributors, and vendors through concerted and intense efforts, as evidenced by a recent case, details of which were recently released by the United States Department of Justice:
In February 2010, undercover FBI agents working in Richmond, Va., and Miami logged onto a peer-to-peer file sharing network and downloaded . . . child pornography from [the accused individual]. In June 2010, a search warrant was obtained and computer equipment was seized from the defendant’s Virginia home. . . At sentencing, [the accused individual] faces a maximum penalty of between five and 20 years in prison for each distribution count and 10 years for each possession count. (Emphasis added).
When charged with a crime of this nature, some accused individuals may not know where to turn or who to trust. But your local Virginia Beach Criminal Defense Attorney is ready and willing to lend an open hear, listen to your side of the story objectively, and stands behind his client in court.
The penalties for child pornography related charges are severe. As you can tell from the example above, one Virginia man is facing numerous counts of possession and distribution, and each charge carries an extremely long prison sentence. Prosecutors in both the federal and the state systems often will charge defendants with a plethora of charges, despite the fact that they realistically expect only a certain percentage of them to “stick.”
If you are a charged individual, do you want to play guessing games as to the charges which the prosecution views expendable . . . or the charges they may be willing to negotiate down to a lesser included offense? This is where your trusted professional Virginia Beach or Norfolk Criminal Defense Attorney can make a huge difference in the outcome of your case. By understanding how the prosecution does its job, your lawyer is able to evaluate your case and enable you to make sense of your situation.
