May 09, 2008

FORMER TALK RADIO HOST PLEADS GUILTY TO DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

WASHINGTON – Bernard V. Ward, 57, a San Francisco resident who previously worked as a radio station talk show host, entered a guilty plea today in federal court in San Francisco to one count of distributing child pornography via the Internet, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.

According to the plea documents, Ward admitted that in December 2004, he used an online screen name to engage in an internet chat conversation with an unknown individual also using a screen name. During that conversation, Ward sent an image of child pornography depicting nude children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Ward also admitted that he used the same e-mail account to distribute 15 to 150 images of child pornography to other individuals. These images involved prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, some with sadistic, masochistic or violent conduct.

Ward faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison, in addition to a maximum fine of $250,000. He is also eligible for up to a lifetime term of supervised release after he is discharged from prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 28, 2008.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Steve Grocki, Jennifer Leonardo and Michael Yoon of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and investigated by the FBI.

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.