Joshua Allen Morgan Sentenced in U.S. District Court
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on July 12, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, JOSHUA ALLEN MORGAN, a 28-years-old resident of Billings, appeared for sentencing. MORGAN was sentenced to a term of:
Prison: 120 months
Special Assessment: $100
Forfeiture: computer equipment
Supervised Release: life
MORGAN was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to receipt of child pornography.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On August 5, 2011, the Madison County Sheriff's Office received a report about Internet activity from a concerned parent. The parent reported that his fifteen-year-old daughter met MORGAN on the Internet and had been communicating inappropriately with him for the past few months. She reported that she had taken sexually explicit pictures of herself at MORGAN's urging and sent them to him via the Internet and computer on numerous occasions during approximately the last three months.
MORGAN knew that the girl was only 15, and he portrayed himself as a 20-year-old man from Billings. In fact, MORGAN is 27-years-old and on federal supervised release for being a felon-in-possession of a firearm. MORGAN told the girl how to pose in sexually explicit poses, and she did so, using Facebook to message and send the photos to MORGAN in Billings. Because the girl is only 15-years-old, the images constitute child pornography and MORGAN used the Internet and computer, instrumentalities of interstate commerce, to receive them.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that MORGAN will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, MORGAN does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, the Helena Police Department, the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation, and the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
