United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

FEDERAL INDICTMENT CHARGES TARRANT COUNTY MAN
WITH POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that a federal grand jury in Fort Worth, Texas, returned an indictment yesterday charging James Jett Smith with four counts of possession of child pornography. Smith, age 52, of Hurst, Texas, has been in custody since October 24, 2006, when he was arrested on charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint.

On October 24, 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents executed a federal search warrant at Smith’s home in Hurst and discovered evidence of his receipt and possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct that had been mailed, shipped, or transported via the Internet in interstate and foreign commerce. According to the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, Smith admitted to agents that he had subscribed to Internet web sites that contained child pornography and that agents would probably find hundreds of images of child pornography of boys between the ages of five and fifteen on his computer’s hard drive. Smith also told agents they would find three-ring binders containing images of child pornography he had received from the Internet. In fact, in one of the binders agents discovered more than 1000 images of child pornography.

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. However, if convicted on all counts, James Jett Smith faces a maximum statutory sentence of 40 years imprisonment and a $1 million fine.

U.S. Attorney Roper commended the investigative efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Camille Sparks.

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