United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2010
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

BEDFORD MAN ADMITS POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Defendant Faces Up to 10 Years in Federal Prison

FORT WORTH, Texas — Brandon S. Gilbert, 32, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton to an indictment charging one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Gilbert, who is on personal recognizance bond, faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means on February 7, 2011.

On March 2, 2010, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents visited the Gilbert residence in Bedford, Texas, based on a lead from ICE Offices in Washington, D.C. The lead concerned a target at that residence who had purchased child pornography via the Internet. An examination of Gilbert’s computer and related storage media was performed and agents discovered child pornography. According to information presented during Gilbert’s detention hearing, Gilbert admitted, during an interview with agents, that he had been purchasing access to child pornography from an Internet website. Gilbert also told agents that he knew it was illegal to download child pornography onto his computers and stated, “I knew one day this would happen to me.”

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

The case is being investigated by ICE and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex C. Lewis.

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