Vinita man admits possessing hundreds of child-pornography pictures
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
A Vinita man has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, admitting that he had more than 600 illegal images last December.
Brian Edward Ruhl, 29, admitted having child pornography on an external hard drive and laptop computer.
He knowingly downloaded the images via the Internet and used a file-sharing program to share them, Ruhl stated in his plea agreement, filed in Tulsa federal court on Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Gallant told the court that the images were found Dec. 20 when a search warrant was served at Ruhl's residence. Some of the images featured children younger than 12 and sado-masochistic conduct, he said.
Although Ruhl admitted possessing more than 600 images of child pornography, Gallant said more than 1,000 were found by law enforcement.
Ruhl pleaded guilty only to one count of a four-count indictment that was filed under seal April 2. However, U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan will be able to consider anything she deems relevant when she sentences Ruhl on Nov. 1.
Federal sentencing guidelines appear to call for a prison sentence of between 78 and 97 months, Gallant said.
Ruhl will remain on bond until sentencing.
