Plea guilty in child-porn case
Plan for covid shot keeps man out of jail before sentencing
A Jacksonville man pleaded guilty Thursday morning in federal court to a child-pornography charge that could land him in prison for as long as 20 years.
Terry Lee Good, 49, was arrested March 12, 2019, when a Little Rock Police vice detail executed a search warrant — with the help of a SWAT team and the FBI — at Good’s Jacksonville residence, according to an arrest report. Investigators found more than 150 depictions of child pornography on his cellphone.
Good, accompanied by his attorney, John Wesley Hall, Jr., pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography before U.S. District Judge James M. Moody, Jr. Good’s plea was part of a plea agreement in which the government, represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan Shipley, moved to dismiss one count each of transportation, possession and receipt of child pornography in exchange for the guilty plea.
The statutory penalty for the offense in 5-20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, not less than five years supervised release, and a mandatory $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
“Do you realize that if you plead guilty, I’m required by law to give you not less than five years for this charge?” Moody asked Good. “Yes, sir,” Good replied. Shipley, reading from the plea agreement, noted that Good is subject to base offense level enhancements because the offense involved more than 600 images, some images involved a minor younger than 12 years old, and a computer was used to receive the images.
After Good’s guilty plea, Hall asked that his client be allowed to remain free until sentencing, which he said could be between 90 and 120 days out, to give his client the opportunity to arrange a vaccination for the covid-19 virus before he reports to prison.
“He’s been very good about his pretrial release,” Hall said. “He’s done everything that was expected of him and he’s always been attentive when I’ve needed to talk to him, unlike some clients who seem to disappear for a while.
“Covid is still rampant in the jails so if he could stay out and get his shots before he has to surrender for sentencing would be a good thing,” Hall added.
“My concern,” Moody said, noting Good’s age of 49, “is that it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to get a shot before he gets sentenced. Let me do some math in my head.”
“I’ve got a client in Judge [D. Price] Marshall’s court who’s supposed to plead this month and she’s getting her first shot today,” Hall said. “She’s only 40 years old. She’s getting her first shot today and her second before the end of the month. Because of the excess of vaccines now, there’s not a shortage, he should be able to get a shot before sentencing.”
After taking a short break in his chambers to consider the matter of release, Moody gave his consent but issued a stern warning that any failure to follow the release terms would be cause for immediate arrest and detainment.
“Because it takes somewhere between 60 to 90 days to get your pre-sentencing report and generally about 30 days after that to schedule a sentencing hearing, I anticipate you’ll likely be made eligible for a vaccination before that time,” Moody said. “So, I’m going to consider this a special circumstance in these covid times to let you stay out.”
Moody said under most circumstances, in dealing with an offense like Good’s, he would take the defendant into custody immediately after the hearing. But, he said, given Good’s record while on pretrial release, he had decided to grant the request.
“If you violate your release in any way,” the judge warned, “I’m going to bring you in until you’ve finished serving your sentence. Do you understand that?”
“I do, Your Honor,” Good replied.
“I want to be clear that you’re on a zero tolerance situation with me,” Moody said. “I’m taking a chance on you so that you can get a vaccine.”
Moody told Good to continue working, stay in contact with his attorney and the probation office, and to follow all of the other conditions of his pretrial release.
Shipley asked Moody to address what would happen if Good is not vaccinated by the time his sentencing date is scheduled.
“First of all, we’re not going to delay sentencing because of your vaccine,” Moody said. “When I do sentence you I reserve the right to take you in custody at that time.”
The judge explained that it could take the Bureau of Prisons between 30 and 60 days to get Good designated, during which time, Moody said, he would reevaluate Good’s release status.