Federal judge rejects child porn plea

<br>TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A federal judge has rejected the plea of a Bristow man who admitted receiving child pornography over the Internet. <br><br>John Perry Sanger, 55, has already been sentenced in state

Wednesday, April 11th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A federal judge has rejected the plea of a Bristow man who admitted receiving child pornography over the Internet.

John Perry Sanger, 55, has already been sentenced in state court to two life sentences plus 20 years in prison for sex crimes against children.

A plea bargain reached with federal prosecutors in September called for a compulsory 17 1/2-year prison term on the porn charge, to be served concurrently with the state sentence.

But Tuesday, U.S. Chief District Judge Terry Kern said that was ``much too lenient'' and set a June 18 trial date for Sanger.

Kern assured Sanger that if he is found guilty at trial, the court will impose a sentence consecutive to the state time ``and I will be happy to administer it.''

Sanger pleaded guilty in federal court Sept. 14 to downloading Internet images of children who were engaged in sexual activity. He told Kern that some of the children appeared to be as young as 7.

A punishment range usually is determined by applying the facts of a case to federal sentencing guideline criteria. But Sanger's plea contained an agreement between the prosecution and the defense that Sanger receive 17 1/2 years in prison to run concurrently with the state sentence.

Federal judges have the right to reject such pleas all the way up to sentencing. Kern said Tuesday that Sanger had ``perverted'' the spirit of the plea by filing various pleadings in recent months complaining about the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Morgan said Sanger would receive ``significantly more'' time than 17 1/2 years if convicted of all charges in the indictment. The statutory maximum would be 30 years, she said.