Charles Lawson Tucker Sentenced in U.S. District Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 24, 2011 |
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on June 15, 2011, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, CHARLES LAWSON TUCKER, a 47-year-old resident of Billings, appeared for sentencing. TUCKER was sentenced to a term of:
Prison: 108 months
Special Assessment: $200
Forfeiture: computer equipment
Supervised Release: 10 years
TUCKER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In October of 2009 law enforcement in Billings received information that a person in Billings was suspected of distributing child pornography to an undercover agent in Missouri while chatting on-line.http://www.free6.com. Further investigation led to TUCKER as being the person who had chatted and distributed the images on multiple occasions.
On January 20, 2010, a search warrant was served at TUCKER's residence and various items of computer equipment were seized. A subsequent forensic examination found images and a movie of child pornography on the computer belonging to TUCKER. When questioned, TUCKER admitted distributing child pornography pictures in the chats, as well as distributing child pornography images and videos to other people. He admitted receiving and possessing child pornography via his laptop computer at both his residence and at his place of employment in Billings.
TUCKER possessed images and movies of children clearly prepubescent and children engaged in sadistic or masochistic abuse or other depictions of violence.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that TUCKER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, TUCKER does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.