Latest Legal News from the Federal Criminal Courts in the United States

APRIL 8, 2007

GARLAND, TEXAS, MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT TO RECEIPT OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Defendant Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison

DALLAS --- Kimberly Layne Johnson, 48, pled guilty this morning in federal court to one count of receipt of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. He faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than five years, nor more than 20 years, in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release. Johnson, who has been in custody since his arrest in January, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 13, 2007, by U. S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater.

According to documents filed in court, on July 27, 2006, agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a search warrant at Johnson’s home in Dallas County and seized his computer and external storage media, including compact disks. Johnson admitted that he’d purchased access to a child pornography website using his credit card. After reviewing the seized computer media, ICE agents identified compact disks that contained images of real children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On January 24, 2007, ICE agents arrested Johnson and seized another computer containing child pornography from his home. In total, Johnson had more than 600 images of child pornography.