Thomas M. Elgert Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 20, 2009 |
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Helena on October 20, 2009, before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell, THOMAS M. ELGERT, a 65-year-old resident of Hillsdale, New Jersey, pled guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography. Sentencing is set for March 10, 2010. He is currently detained.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd is the prosecutor for the United States.
ELGERT faces possible penalties of a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and could be sentenced to 30 years, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervision.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Helena Police Department, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.