Anchorage, Alaska - Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis announced today that a resident of Montrose, Colorado, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Anchorage on one count of making false statements to the United States and one count of perjury. Both charges are felonies.
According to the indictment, James Paul Hunt, 61, recently applied to be a third-party custodian for his son, who was charged with distribution of child pornography. Hunt submitted a U.S. Probation/Pretrial Services Application for Third-Party Custody, which he signed under penalty of perjury, to the U.S. Probation/ Pretrial Services Office. The application asked whether Hunt had “Ever been cited, arrested, charged with or convicted of any crime." It is alleged that in response, Hunt knowingly failed to disclose that in 1987, he was charged and pled guilty to Sexual Assault on a Child (Position of Trust) in Colorado.
The indictment further alleges that at a bail hearing for Hunt’s son on Nov. 26, 2012, an Assistant U.S. Attorney questioned Hunt about whether there were “any other instances" or “police contacts" that Hunt had failed to mention on the application to be a third party custodian. Hunt falsely responded and did not disclose the Sexual Assault charge or his guilty plea.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Sayers-Fay, who presented the case to the grand jury, advised that each of the felony counts carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, one year supervised release and a mandatory special assessment of $100 per count.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation that led to the indictment in this case.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
