Russell Leroy Miller Sentenced In U.S. District Court

The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on September 27, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, RUSSELL LEROY MILLER, a 70-year-old resident of Big Fork, was sentenced to a term of:

Probation: 5 years

Special Assessment: $100

Restitution: $3,218

Fine: $10,000

MILLER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession of child pornography.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

As part of an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) investigation, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations obtained a search warrant for MILLER's residence in Big Fork.

On February 23, 2012, the search warrant was served. When interviewed, MILLER admitted using peer-to-peer file sharing programs. MILLER admitted he downloaded files containing child pornography. He also admitted that he saved the files to various CDs and external hard drives. He disclosed search terms which were indicative of search terms used to locate child pornography files.

MILLER's computers and media were forensically analyzed. The examiner located video and image files which depicted children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The files were created between February 26, 2002, and February 22, 2012.

The investigation was conducted by the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.