Danville Man Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Child Pornography

OAKLAND – Mitchell Phillip Wolf pleaded guilty in federal court in Oakland today to possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson

As part of his plea agreement, Wolf, 59, of Danville, Calif., admitted to knowingly possessing approximately 50,000 digital files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Wolf admitted to intentionally saving the image and video files to his personal desktop computer and to assorted CD-ROMs and DVDs that he stored in his home office, bedroom, and briefcase.  On many of the CD-ROMs and DVDs, Wolf hand-labeled their content with terms consistent with child pornography, such as “PTHC” for “pre-teen hardcore.”  Wolf also admitted to downloading the digital files from the internet using an online peer-to-peer file sharing program.  Wolf was charged by information on April 3, 2015, with a single count of possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252 (a)(4)(B).  Pursuant to the plea agreement, Wolf pleaded guilty to the count as charged.

Wolf is currently released on a $250,000 bond.  His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 21, 2015, before the Honorable Phyllis J. Hamilton, U.S. District Judge, in Oakland.  The maximum statutory penalty for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252 (a)(4)(B) is 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, a lifetime term of supervised release, and payment of restitution.  However, any sentence will be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wade M. Rhyne is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Janice Pagsanjan and Noble Hughes.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force, and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.