Bay Area Man Sentenced To Four Years In Prison For Possessing Child Pornography

SAN FRANCISCO – Mark Miner was sentenced to 48 months in prison for possessing child pornography, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.  The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Edward M. Chen, U.S. District Judge.

Miner, 51, of San Francisco, Calif., pleaded guilty to the charge on July 17, 2019.  In pleading guilty, Miner admitted he possessed more than 800 images and videos of child pornography that he stored online with an internet file-hosting service.  According to the plea agreement, Miner sent links to his online account via texts and other electronic communications in order to try to distribute the images and videos to others.  

A federal grand jury indicted Miner on April 25, 2019, charging him with one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B) and (b)(2).  Miner pleaded guilty to the count.  

In addition to the prison term, Judge Chen sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release.  The defendant was immediately remanded into custody.

Assistant United States Attorney Aseem Padukone is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Margoth Turcios.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the San Francisco Police Department.