Kirkland Smith Found Unresponsive in his Car with Child Pornography
PLATTSBURGH, NEW YORK - Kirkland Smith, 55, of Witherbee, New York, was sentenced yesterday to serve 212 months in prison for possessing child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith, New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II; and James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office.
As part of his guilty plea, Smith admitted to possessing hundreds of videos and images of child pornography on a memory card seized from his car and on five hard drives seized from his home. Smith was discovered passed out at the wheel of his car on Rt. 73 in Keene, New York by a New York State Trooper on Oct. 30, 2014, and arrested for driving while intoxicated. Seized from Smith’s vehicle was a memory card containing child pornography inserted in an electronic tablet device. A court-authorized search warrant of the defendant’s residence resulted in the seizure of additional media containing child pornography. Smith, who was previously convicted of second-degree child molestation in Rhode Island, admitted that the child pornography involved prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12.
At sentencing, Senior United States District Judge Norman A. Mordue determined that the defendant had engaged in a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of minors by sexually abusing two children under the age of 12. Judge Mordue also imposed a lifetime term of supervised release and ordered the defendant to pay $4,000 in restitution.
“Thanks to the vigilance of a New York State Trooper, Kirkland Smith will spend the next 17 years in prison. We will continue to work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to hold those who view child pornography accountable and make sure our communities are safe for our children," said Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith.
"I want to commend the outstanding work of our state police members and our federal partners in bringing this case to a successful conclusion. Thanks to this collaboration, we have taken a dangerous individual off the streets. We will not tolerate this type of illegal behavior," said State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II.
“As a convicted sex offender, this defendant has demonstrated a depraved predilection for child exploitation," said Russell Linstad, Resident Agent in Charge of the Massena, New York office of Homeland Security Investigations. “This prison term will ensure he no longer has access to children or to child exploitative materials."
This case was investigated by the New York State Police and Homeland Securities Investigations, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyrus P.W. Rieck.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
