| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 28, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
OAKLAND – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Chad A. Holste, of Fremont and Redding, California, pleaded guilty yesterday to transportation and possession of child pornography.
In pleading guilty, Mr. Holste admitted to using the “Google Hello” file sharing program to transport over 900 images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct to undercover agents in Seattle, Washington and in the United Kingdom. Mr. Holste also admitted to using his personal computer to possess over 1000 images and 52 videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images and videos included pictures of babies, toddlers, and pre-pubescent children. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, many of the images and videos depicted known child victims.
Mr. Holste, 20, was indicted by a federal Grand Jury in Oakland, California on February 7, 2008. He was charged with one count of transporting child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(1), and one count of possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). Mr. Holste pleaded guilty to both counts.
The underlying investigation began on January 16, 2008, when federal law enforcement officials executed a search warrant for Mr. Holste’s dorm room on DeVry University’s campus. Agents found a computer belonging to Mr. Holste in the dorm room and performed a forensic search of the desktop computer. Their search revealed images of child pornography including visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Mr. Holste was arrested on the day of the search and made his initial appearance in federal court in Oakland on January 17, 2008. He has been in custody since that date.
The sentencing of Mr. Holste is scheduled for November 12, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland. The maximum statutory penalty for transporting child pornography as charged in count one, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(1) is 20 years imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum of 5 years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000. The maximum statutory penalty for possessing child pornography as charged in count two, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B) is 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Wade M. Rhyne is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Cynthia Daniel and Laurie Best. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement working as part of the Virtual Global Task Force and in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police in London.
Further Information:
Case #: CR-08-0064 CW
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