Well, my boyfriend was charged both federal and state, but the state really gave him the screws and continues to do so while on probation. The fed charges and sentencing were way more lenient compared with the state charges!!!!!

Well, my boyfriend was charged both federal and state, but the state really gave him the screws and continues to do so while on probation. The fed charges and sentencing were way more lenient compared with the state charges!!!!!

I wish I had some answers for you. All I know from my husband is that when federal probation is granted, the officers tend to be more humane and most of the parolee's like their PO's...I guess after dealing with prison guards, a PO feels like a friend.

What does his attorney say? Any wild guesses on his part as to what he may get?

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your husband.

Thanks everyone. His attorney says he'll get the 5 yrs, but possibly more depending on the number of images they find on our computers. They haven't given a tally yet. I feel like our lives are hanging in the balance waiting for the sentencing. He's pleading guilty. You would think that would move the process along, but logic doesn't seem to prevail. I'm sure I'm not the first one to notice that. lol.

So, from what I understand, he's being charged in federal and state court?

I asked my husband about the federal SO he knows, what his sentence was, crime, etc. He was told that he served 4 years in federal prison for purchasing child pornography from another state(hense the federal charge) and did not receive state time, but that sometimes if they are convicted on a state level, those sentences run concurrent. If he hadn't had a drug charge already on his record, he might have gotten probation. He served 1 1/2 years in one federal prison and was moved to another because of how he was treated by the fellow inmates whom he told he was an SO. He was advised when transferred to say he was there on a drug trafficing charge. He served the remaining 3 1/2 years. He will be on probation for 10 years and a RSO. That's all my husband was able to tell me about this man's case, as everything else is priviledged.

I know this isn't exactly the information you needed and every court is different, but I hope that it helps aleviate some of the fear.

Has your husband told you approx. how much is on the computer? What I mean to say is, how often he looked at those images, twice a month? Ten times a month? If he's straight with you, it can give you an glimmer into the possible sentence.

From all of the people I have met and talked to, federal charges tend to be stiffer than state charges. There is usually less latitude for the sentencing judges in federal cases. There isn't any parole in the federal system either so that makes any sentence handed down a little harder to accept. His total time does depend on the total number of pictures found and also on the specific nature of those pictures. Make sure you ask your husband exactly what was in the pictures he looked at. It will be very difficult to hear but it will be much better that you get the whole truth before his sentencing rather than to hear it from a US attorney.

Thanks again. He was indicted Federally. No charges from the state. I asked my husband, if he had to guess, how many pics would be considered child porn. He said approx 200-300. They were on all 3 computers, I believe. He was indicted for possession and then 3 counts for delivering across state lines. The Feds put a link in the local paper to the origional complaint which described some of the pics (wasn't that nice of them?). I asked him when he was home on monitoring what the nature of the pics were because I hadn't seen the complaint online. His description was far more 'mild' than what they had in the complaint which I got the nerve to read 3 wks after his arrest. I say all that because, he says there are 200-300, but I'm not so sure I believe him. Honestly, if I had read the complaint before he went before the judge, I would never have brought him home with me. In addition to that, my understanding is that he was viewing these at least twice a week, more than likely 4-5 times per week for hours at a time. I never thought about there ability to capture the amount of time and frequency they were viewed. Interesting to say the least.

He was arrested by Homeland Security/ I.C.E. agents and charged federally. All the court documents I've seen state that it's "United States vs. my husband. From what I understand in reading it, he was charged federally because he transported across state lines via the internet and I believe was chatting with one of the agents online.

Sadandmad, you have enlightened me I had no idea that Homeland Security was involved in things like this! is you husband being charged with that many images? I thought there was a law that they could only charge him with so many per computer. My husband committed the same type of crime, we only had 1 computer & even though the attorney told me there were alot of images my husband was only charged with 3. Good luck & I wish you & your husband the best outcome possible.

Alwaysafraid. I.C.E. is a branch of homeland security dealing with Immegration and customs. I had no idea before this either. Somehow child pornography got thrown into it, too. I'm sure there's a logical reason, but I can't come up with it. Anyway, I am not aware of limits on the number of images they can charge with. His indictment for transporting included 3 counts, one for each image he uploaded to someone else. They also charged him with possesion of child porn and I guess that's where the severity or additional time comes in, if any. He says thats how many there were but I don't know what determines how many he gets charged with, etc. This has been a learning experience for me too. I'm gonna have to check out the image limit angle. Thanks for your input.