Brandon Phinney Guilty

A Clear Lake man has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in federal court. Brandon Phinney, 27, admitted to possessing over 1,000 images of child pornography on his computer between September 2010 and April 2011.

Phinney pleaded guilty on April 1, 2013, to one count of possession of child pornography. He also admitted to using the Internet to trade child pornography with others. The guilty plea was entered in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

The case against Phinney was investigated by the Clear Lake Police Department, the Mason City Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. He was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the guilty plea and will remain in custody pending sentencing.

Phinney faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and supervised release for 5 years to life following his imprisonment. His sentencing will be set after a presentence report is prepared by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel. It was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 13-3005. The public can access this information to learn more about the case against Phinney and the efforts of law enforcement to combat child pornography possession.

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