A Monroe hardware storeowner mistakenly sent the wrong computer disk to an East Coast advertising contractor in 2001, and on Monday it cost him nearly a month in jail.
The disk contained child pornography, and it led to a felony criminal charge of possessing images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Ernest Thomas Kelly, 60, was sentenced to 28 days in the Snohomish County Jail on Monday by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Charles French. Kelly told the judge that the incident also cost him his reputation and his business, which he said he’s about to sell.
Deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul and defense attorney Mark Stephens of Everett originally agreed to a 45-day jail term. Stephens asked the judge for the term to start in December, after the hardware store sale is complete.
Paul, who noted that Kelly had told police he contemplated suicide, wanted the term to start immediately, partly for his own safety. In order to do that, Paul agreed to the 28-day jail term, which should get the defendant out of jail in time to complete the sale.
The judge agreed. Under state law, the sentencing range is up to a year in jail.
The incident "has really changed his life forever," Stephens said. "I am confident Mr. Kelly has learned his lesson and will not dabble with this again."
Kelly assured the judge: "There is no chance of me committing suicide."
The defendant also will have to pay a $2,000 fine and be under community supervision for a year after he gets out of jail.
When the advertising contractor in New York received Kelly’s e-mail containing child pornography in October 2001, the recipient contacted local police. Local police turned the matter over to the FBI, and the federal agency finally notified the Monroe Police Department.
A detective interviewed Kelly in April, and Kelly claimed that someone had left a computer disk in his car when it went in for repairs, court papers say. He said he somehow inadvertently sent the disk containing child pornography instead of items he wanted advertised.
Kelly later pleaded guilty, conceding that the prosecutor had enough evidence to convict him.
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