| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 27, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN JOSE– United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Mark First pleaded guilty today to possessing child pornography. Mr. First, 44, of Hollister, California, was charged by an information filed on September 28, 2007 one count of possessing images of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B).
According to the information and his plea agreement, Mr. First possessed child pornography in January 2005. In pleading guilty, the defendant admitted that he downloaded over 600 images of child pornography from child pornography websites onto computers at his residence.
After the plea, Mr. First was remanded into custody of the U.S. Marshal pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3143.
Mr. First is scheduled to be sentenced on June 4, 2008, before United States District Judge Jeremy Fogel, in San Jose. The maximum statutory penalty for possession of child pornography under Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B) is ten years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, Title 18, United States Code, Section 3553.
Joseph A. Fazioli is the Assistant United States Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Assistant Jeanne Carstensen. This prosecution is a result of an investigation by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 07-00622 JF
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 Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.