Home Richmond Press Releases 2009 Richmond Attorney Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography
Info
This is archived material from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website. It may contain outdated information and links may no longer function.

Richmond Attorney Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

U.S. Attorney’s Office July 02, 2009
  • Eastern District of Virginia (804) 819-5400

RICHMOND, VA—Thomas Johnston, age 63, of Richmond, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to Receipt of Child Pornography.  Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Jennifer Love, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Henry E. Hudson.

Johnston faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment when he is sentenced on October 7, 2009.  Johnston will also be required to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.   

According to court documents, in April and May 2008, FBI agents identified Johnston as someone making child pornography images available for download using peer-to-peer file sharing software.  During this time, Johnston was an attorney with Canfield, Baer, Heller & Johnston, in Richmond Virginia.  In August 2008, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the law firm and seized two of Johnston’s computers.  An examination of the computers disclosed hundreds of still images and several videos of child pornography, some of which were acquired using peer-to-peer file sharing software.   

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth C. Wu is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

This content has been reproduced from its original source.