| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 20, 2007 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Scott N. Schools announced that a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Peter Lasell of Belmont on November 13, 2007 with one count of transporting child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. The indictment alleges that Lasell transported and possessed the images in July 2007 in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252(a)(1) and 2252(a)(4)(B). The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of a computer on which Lasell allegedly possessed the images.
Mr. Lasell, who is a pharmacist, made his initial appearance on November 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. before the Honorable Bernard Zimmerman, United States Magistrate Judge. Lasell’s detention hearing is scheduled before Judge Zimmerman at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, November 26. His case is assigned to United States District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel (CR 07-0716 MHP).
The maximum statutory penalty for distribution of child pornography is 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $ 250,000, and the maximum statutory penalty for possession of child pornography is 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $ 250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
An indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Mr. Lasell must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Allison Danner is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rawaty Yim. The prosecution is a result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Further Information:
Case #: CR 07-0716 MHP
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Natalya LaBauve at (415) 436-7055 or by email at Natalya.LaBauve@usdoj.gov.