COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A Columbia County man has pled guilty to a federal charge of receiving child pornography over the internet. 24-year-old Robert Allen Brammer is facing a minimum sentence of 5 - 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a potential life term of supervised release. Brammer will also have to forfeit several computers and other digital media as part of his plea agreement.
According to court documents, a detective working with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force began an undercover operation to identify persons using a particular file sharing program on the internet to obtain and share child pornography. During the course of the investigation, detectives pinpointed a specific IP address who was offering images of child pornography for distribution as coming from Florida. During the time frame this IP address was seen offering images of child pornography for distribution, the subscriber for this internet service account was Robert Allen Brammer.
On September 3, 2010, a federal search warrant was executed at Brammer's residence. During the search, the officers seized, among other things, a laptop computer and a desktop tower computer. Brammer told police he began searching for and downloading child pornography approximately three and a half years prior, and that he used file sharing programs to search for and download child pornography from the internet. Brammer also admitted that child pornography is "obviously illegal." Police say Brammer's computer media contained at least 28 images and 15 videos of child pornography.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
Brammer's sentencing hearing is set for August 27, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.
