A Little Rock man is facing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday morning before a federal judge to possession of child pornography.
Brandon Gignac, 24, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky, who cautioned him that by entering a plea of guilty, "I will find you guilty on your guilty plea."
Rudofsky carefully went over Gignac's rights to trial and appeal rights and outlined the rights he would surrender by pleading guilty.
"A plea of guilty in open court is the strongest proof known to the law," the judge told Gignac.
Rudofsky advised Gignac that his plea agreement reached with the government would not be binding on the court, and at his discretion, Rudofsky could sentence Gignac to the maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison regardless of any agreement he may have with prosecutors. He also advised Gignac that because parole has been abolished in the federal Bureau of Prisons he would not be able to count on getting out of prison early outside of a possible maximum 15% sentence reduction for good time credits.
"Whatever sentence I give you, essentially, is the sentence you will serve," Rudofsky said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant outlined the terms of the plea agreement, which included a total of 10 levels of enhancement over the base offense level of 18. Bryant said a two-level enhancement would apply because the offense involved a minor younger than the age of 12, a four-level enhancement because the offense included material portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct, a two-level enhancement because the offense involved use of a computer, and a two-level enhancement because the offense involved more than 10 but less than 150 images.
"The defendant is eligible for a two-level reduction for acceptance [of responsibility]," Bryant added. "The determination of a third-level will be made by the United States at the time of sentencing."
Bryant said also that Gignac will be required to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison. She said in addition to the 10-year maximum prison term, the offense also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and five years to life on supervised release.
According to court records, Gignac was initially charged in Pulaski County Circuit Court with 30 counts of distributing/possessing/or viewing matter depicting child sex in connection with his arrest by Little Rock police in November 2021. Those charges were dismissed in April after Gignac's indictment in February by a federal grand jury on one count of possession of child pornography and two counts of receipt of child pornography. Bryant said on Nov. 10, 2021, Little Rock police were dispatched to Gignac's Little Rock residence, where Gignac lived with his uncle. Bryant said Gignac's uncle called police after discovering his nephew had a smartphone he was not allowed to have and that after taking the phone from him he found images and videos of child pornography stored on the phone.
Bryant said the next day, Little Rock police detective Amber Kalmer obtained a search warrant for the phone and discovered more than 50 images and videos store on the phone's SD card.
"Mr. Gignac admitted to having a serious pornography addiction since he was 12 years old," Bryant said. "He stated that regular pornography had gotten boring and about two years ago he started viewing child pornography. He stated that child pornography was now boring."
Bryant said that Gignac told police he believed the scenes portrayed in the videos on his phone were "consensual and that there was no rape."
"Do you believe everything [Bryant] said was 100% accurate?" Rudofsky asked Gignac.
"Yes, sir," Gignac replied.
"Are there any even small inaccuracies?" Rudofsky asked. "If there are, now is the time to tell me."
"No, your honor," Gignac replied, following a pause of several seconds.
Under further questioning by the judge, Gignac admitted that he knew he had child pornography in his possession, that the phone the files were contained on belonged to him, and that he knew the images were of children.
"How do you plead to Count 3 of the indictment?" Rudofsky asked.
"I plead guilty," Gignac answered.
"Is that because you are, in fact, guilty of Count 3 of the indictment?"
"Yes, your honor," Gignac answered. "Guilty as charged."
After finding Gignac guilty of the offense, Rudofsky, after dismissing the remaining two counts of the indictment, explained to the defendant that a sentencing date will be set after completion of a pre-sentence report by the U.S. probation office in Little Rock, a process that normally takes between three and four months to complete. Gignac will likely be sentenced sometime early next year.