Patrick Astore Sentenced in U.S. District Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 06, 2012 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula on January 6, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, PATRICK ASTORE, a 70-year-old resident of Helena, appeared for sentencing. ASTORE was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 120 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Forfeiture: computer equipment
- Supervised Release: life
ASTORE was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to viewing 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 2001, ASTORE pled guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to 108 months in prison followed by five years’ supervised release. He was released from prison in August 2008 and was supervised by the U.S. Probation Office in Helena.
On February 25, 2011, following a tip, ASTORE’s residence was searched by probation officers. A computer and thumb drive were seized and ASTORE admitted that he had been surfing the Internet looking for pornographic images of females under the age of 18 years.
A forensic analysis found a small number of images of child pornography in Internet cache and unallocated space on ASTORE’s computer, along with numerous search terms for child pornography. The thumb drive contained a number of URLs and links to child pornography websites. ASTORE viewed the child pornography using the Internet and computer and thumb drive.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that ASTORE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, ASTORE does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overall sentence.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Probation and Parole, and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.