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Geschrieben von Katrin am 21.07.2008 um 08:41:

  Brothel owner gets 15 years for child porn

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Former Nevada brothel owner David Burgess was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison for his recent conviction on charges of possessing and transporting child pornography.


U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson also sentenced the

55-year-old Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member to 10 years of supervision upon his release, lifetime registration as a sex offender and a fine of $20,000.

Prosecutors said investigators found a vast and neatly organized collection of child porn on two hard drives confiscated from Burgess' motorhome during a traffic stop in western Wyoming last July. A jury convicted him on both counts in April.

"I would hope that at some point this defendant will be able to acknowledge his preoccupation with child pornography and the damage it has done to his life, his business and his family members," Johnson said before imposing the sentence.

Burgess, a charter member of a Nevada chapter of the Hells Angels and former owner of the Old Bridge Ranch, east of Sparks, maintained his innocence throughout the case.

"The only thing that I have to say is I just apologize for having put the court through this," Burgess told the judge.

Burgess' defense attorney said he will appeal the case. Dion Custis of Cheyenne, who began representing Burgess after the trial, said after the sentencing hearing that he will review the trial transcript to determine his strategy for appeal. He said he also will appeal elements of the sentencing that he felt were unjustly severe.

Burgess was traveling to a Hells Angels rally in Arkansas when a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper stopped his motorhome along Interstate 80 near Evanston last summer. Police said the vehicle's trailer had an expired license plate.

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080719/NEWS/807190308