A Lonoke County man is facing a sentence of 15 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty before a federal judge Thursday to one count of transportation of child pornography.
Tommy Campbell, 59, of Lonoke, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian Miller to the single count of transportation of child pornography in exchange for the dismissal of one count of possession of child pornography contained in an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Little Rock on Oct. 12, 2019. Campbell was initially charged in a criminal complaint filed the previous month by Amber Kalmer -- a detective with the Little Rock Police Department assigned as an FBI task force officer investigating crimes against children -- with receipt/distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography with intent to view and transportation of child pornography.
According to court records, Campbell, a registered sex offender, has two previous convictions involving children. In 1991, records said, he was convicted of a charge of indecent act with a child and in 1998, he was convicted on a charge of indecency with a minor-exposure. Court records said that offense involved engaging in sexual contact with a 7-year-old girl.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant, going over the terms of Campbell's plea agreement, said in addition to the prison term, Campbell's guilty plea also exposes him to a term of supervised release ranging from five years to life, as well as a $250,000 fine and a possible special assessment of $5,000 under terms of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
"If it is determined the defendant does not have a prior conviction," Bryant said, "the maximum penalty is not less than five years imprisonment to not more than 20 years."
Bryant said a number of stipulations were also included with the plea agreement.
"Specifically, the parties agree that the base offense level is 22," she said. "The defendant shall receive an additional two levels because the offense involved a prepubescent who had not attained the age of 12, an additional four levels because the offense involved sadistic or masochistic conduct, an additional two levels because the offense involved at least 10 but less than 150 images."
Bryant said without the plea agreement, Campbell could have received an additional two level increase because the offense involved the use of a computer. She said Campbell is eligible for a two level decrease to the offense level for acceptance of responsibility in pleading guilty.
"A determination of a third level decrease will be made at time of sentencing," she said.
Under questioning from Miller, Campbell confirmed that the terms of a plea agreement were accurate and said he wished to move forward with a guilty plea.
Earlier, after explaining Campbell's trial rights and appeal rights he would be surrendering by pleading guilty, Miller explained that before he could calculate a sentence for him, the U.S. Probation Office would have to complete a pretrial report that would enable Miller to calculate an appropriate sentence under U.S. sentencing guidelines. But, he said, that calculation would come with a caveat.
"In the federal system we have our law that tells me what the minimum and maximum sentences are that I can give you," Miller said. "In addition to the law we have sentencing guidelines to help me determine what an appropriate sentence is. I'm not required to give you a sentence in the range provided by the guidelines as long as I give you a sentence in the range that is provided by the law."
Miller explained that, until the pre-sentence report is completed and approved, there would be no way to accurately predict what a guideline sentence range might be.
"They'll look in to all of your history," he explained. "Your work history, your drug and alcohol history, your educational background, your family history and your criminal history. Then, probation will calculate your guideline range but we don't have that here today so we can't tell you what your guideline range is going to be and therefore we can't tell you what your sentence is going to be."
Miller told Campbell when he returns for sentencing that should he receive a longer sentence than expected, he would not be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and that because parole has been abolished in the federal prison system, whatever sentence he receives will be the sentence he will serve."
"You may get good time but you won't get parole," he said.
Outlining the factual basis for Campbell's plea, Bryant said that on July 24, 2019, Kalmer received a copy of a CyberTipline report regarding activity on a Google account registered to Campbell.
"The CyberTip contained three image files that were uploaded and stored in the Google photos infrastructure," Bryant said. "The images were uploaded on June 17, 2019."
Information provided indicated that the IP addresses associated with the photos, which Bryant said were determined to fit the statutory definition of child pornography, were linked to Campbell's gmail account.
Bryant said that when a search warrant was executed on Campbell's Lonoke home, Campbell's cellphone was searched and found to contain numerous images of child pornography in addition to those that had been discovered uploaded to his Google account.
"A review of Tommy Campbell's criminal history reveals that he is a registered sex offender," Bryant concluded.
"Did you listen to the statement given by the U.S. attorney?" Miller asked Campbell. "Was her statement accurate?"
"Yes sir," Campbell replied, to both questions.
"How do you plead to Count 1 of the October 2, 2019, indictment?"
"Guilty, sir."
"Did you, in fact, commit the offense as charged?" Miller asked.
"Yes sir, I did," Campbell answered.
After dismissing the remaining charge in the indictment, Miller told Campbell that once the pre-sentence report is completed, he should review it with his attorney, Marjorie Rogers of Little Rock, in order to ensure the accuracy of the report.
"This is important," Miller admonished, "because the sentence I give you will be based on the pre-sentence report. That's how I determine what the appropriate sentence is for you so you have to make sure it's correct."