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United States
Attorney
Joseph P. Russoniello
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JOSHUA EATON WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov
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Novato Man Arraigned on Indictment Charging Receipt and Possession of Child PornographySAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced today that a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Remsen Benedict, of Novato, on January 22, 2008 on one count of Receipt of Child Pornography and one count of Possession of Child Pornography. The indictment alleges that Benedict received the images over a period of months in 2006 and 2007 and possessed the images in July 2007 in violation of Title 18, United States Code, section 2252(a)(2) and 2252(a)(4)(B). The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of computer media on which Benedict allegedly possessed the images. Benedict was arraigned today before the Honorable Bernard Zimmerman, United States Magistrate Judge, and was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals pending a detention hearing before the Honorable Elizabeth D. Laporte, United States Magistrate Judge, on January 28, 2008 at 9:30 am. The case has been assigned to United States District Court Judge Willam H. Alsup, CR 08-08-0025. The statutory penalty for Receipt of Child Pornography is a mandatory minimum term of 5 years imprisonment, a maximum term of 20 years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000. The maximum statutory penalty for Possession of Child Pornography is 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, Title 18, United States Code, section 3553. Benedict was previously charged in the Municipal Court of Marin County by District Attorney Edward S. Berberian, Jr. with Possession of Child Pornography in violation of California Penal Code section 311.11(a). The Marin County case is still pending. The next court date is February 8, 2008. This Indictment is a result of an investigation by the Novato Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Marin County District Attorney’s Office. Denise Marie Barton is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Assistant Hui Chen. Further Information: A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can. Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov. All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415) 436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov. ###
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