Ex-Pentagon Official Sentenced To 37 Months For Child Porn
SAN DIEGO -- A former high-ranking Pentagon official snared in a child pornography investigation was sentenced to 37 months by a federal judge on Monday.
Wade Sanders, 69, was arrested after an FBI agent identified him in October 2007 as one of a batch of suspects who were allegedly sharing child porn electronically. In December, he pleaded guilty, and prosecutors sought a 63-month prison sentence.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is an old friend. Like Kerry, Sanders commanded a swift boat in Vietnam and is a decorated veteran. And Kerry is one of dozens of powerful allies who have written to U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan to urge him to go easy on Wade.
"The Wade Sanders I know is someone who has always put love of country first," Kerry wrote. "He's been an advocate for his friends, his fellow veterans, his state and his country."
Other supporters lined up to support Sanders include former U.S. senator and war hero Max Cleland of Georgia, who headed the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter; Rep. Lynn Schenk of San Diego, a lawyer and longtime friend of Sanders; and numerous retired Navy officers, friends and relatives of Sanders.
Bernie Jones, the Opinion page editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, where numerous commentaries by Sanders have been published over the years, also wrote a letter opposing a prison term.
Sanders' attorney, Knut Johnson, argued that the evidence against his client was, in fact, research, but he produced only three pages of undated, handwritten notes in support of that argument, the Union-Tribune reported.
The defense also argued that the work was the product an obsessive-compulsive disorder developed, in part, as a response to his experiences in Vietnam, where he earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
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Fired aide to Sen. Boxer (D) sentenced for child porn
The Associated Press
Published: Monday, May. 4, 2009 - 1:10 pm
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A former high-level aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) has been sentenced to five years in prison on child pornography charges.
Jeff P. Rosato, 32, of Arlington, was sentenced Friday in a hearing before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. He received the minimum sentence allowed under federal guidelines and will have to register as a sex offender.
Rosato was fired from Boxer's office in November after the California Democrat learned of the charges.
He had worked for Boxer since early 2005, beginning in her personal office as a legislative assistant and last year becoming a counsel to the Environment and Public Works Committee, which Boxer chairs. His areas of expertise included water policy, oceans and endangered species.
Defense attorneys argued Rosato had been molested as a child.
I find it very chilling that these democrats would make excuses for anyone caught with child porn.
SAN DIEGO -- A former high-ranking Pentagon official snared in a child pornography investigation was sentenced to 37 months by a federal judge on Monday.
Wade Sanders, 69, was arrested after an FBI agent identified him in October 2007 as one of a batch of suspects who were allegedly sharing child porn electronically. In December, he pleaded guilty, and prosecutors sought a 63-month prison sentence.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is an old friend. Like Kerry, Sanders commanded a swift boat in Vietnam and is a decorated veteran. And Kerry is one of dozens of powerful allies who have written to U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan to urge him to go easy on Wade.
"The Wade Sanders I know is someone who has always put love of country first," Kerry wrote. "He's been an advocate for his friends, his fellow veterans, his state and his country."
Other supporters lined up to support Sanders include former U.S. senator and war hero Max Cleland of Georgia, who headed the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter; Rep. Lynn Schenk of San Diego, a lawyer and longtime friend of Sanders; and numerous retired Navy officers, friends and relatives of Sanders.
Bernie Jones, the Opinion page editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, where numerous commentaries by Sanders have been published over the years, also wrote a letter opposing a prison term.
Sanders' attorney, Knut Johnson, argued that the evidence against his client was, in fact, research, but he produced only three pages of undated, handwritten notes in support of that argument, the Union-Tribune reported.
The defense also argued that the work was the product an obsessive-compulsive disorder developed, in part, as a response to his experiences in Vietnam, where he earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
**********************************************************
Fired aide to Sen. Boxer (D) sentenced for child porn
The Associated Press
Published: Monday, May. 4, 2009 - 1:10 pm
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A former high-level aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) has been sentenced to five years in prison on child pornography charges.
Jeff P. Rosato, 32, of Arlington, was sentenced Friday in a hearing before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. He received the minimum sentence allowed under federal guidelines and will have to register as a sex offender.
Rosato was fired from Boxer's office in November after the California Democrat learned of the charges.
He had worked for Boxer since early 2005, beginning in her personal office as a legislative assistant and last year becoming a counsel to the Environment and Public Works Committee, which Boxer chairs. His areas of expertise included water policy, oceans and endangered species.
Defense attorneys argued Rosato had been molested as a child.
I find it very chilling that these democrats would make excuses for anyone caught with child porn.
