FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 28, 2008
GREGORY CODY HERNDON SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on April 28, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, GREGORY CODY HERNDON, a 22-year-old resident of Great Falls and Cobb County, Tennessee, appeared for sentencing. HERNDON was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 108 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Forfeiture: computer equipment
- Supervised Release: 3 years
HERNDON was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession of child pornography.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
During an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of allegations of child pornography violations by users utilizing the peer-to-peer file sharing network. One investigation involved a person in Great Falls who was found to have images of child pornography in his file sharing program beginning in November 2006 through February of 2007. ICE agents tracked the computer IP address to a residence in Great Falls which had been HERNDON'S previous residence.
Further investigation revealed that in February of 2007, HERNDON moved to another apartment in Great Falls. The agents executed a search warrant on that residence on March 23, 2007.
HERNDON was questioned and initially claimed that he had already sold his laptop computer on eBay; however, the laptop was found under the couch in HERNDON'S new residence. HERNDON then admitted that he used the LimeWire file sharing program but claimed that he did not intentionally receive child pornography, but may have accidentally viewed or received the images while search for pornography on the Internet.
Approximately eleven movies containing child pornography were found during a forensic examination of HERNDON'S laptop computer.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that HERNDON will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, HERNDON does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
