United States v. Pirosko

Federal agents executed a search warrant on Pirosko’s hotel room and seized a laptop computer and a USB drive. Analysis revealed numerous images and video files depicting child pornography on both. Charged with knowingly receiving and distributing computer files containing visual depictions of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2), and knowingly possessing a computer and a USB storage device containing child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(5)(B), Pirosko moved to compel the government to disclose the tools and records used to search the computer equipment. The court denied the motion, citing the sensitive nature of the computer programs and Pirosko’s lack of a demonstrated need for discovery. Pirosko then unsuccessfully moved to suppress, arguing that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated because the search warrant was obtained using unreliable and unsupported information. Pirosko entered a conditional guilty plea and received a sentence of 240 months of imprisonment, the statutory maximum. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting arguments that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to compel discovery; that the government used unconstitutional warrantless tracking in order to obtain its search warrant; and that his sentence is greater than necessary to servethe purposes of 18 U.S.C. 3553(a). View "United States v. Pirosko" on Justia Law