Tanner Eugene Osweiler Sentenced in U.S. District Court
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on March 18, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, TANNER EUGENE OSWEILER, a 22-year-old resident of Kalispell, appeared for sentencing. OSWEILER was sentenced to a term of:
Prison: 24 months
Special Assessment: $100
Supervised Release: 10 years
OSWEILER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession of child pornography.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in Kalispell investigated a peer-to-peer referral. After determining an IP address in Kalispell had child pornography files available for download, they located the subscriber information and obtained a search warrant for the residence. The residence was owned by OSWEILER's parents. A search warrant was served in May 2009 and the agents seized one computer from the residence.
A subsequent forensic examination of the computer found chid pornography video files. Files were located in two paths, both of which were the locations designated for files downloaded via LimeWire by an individual utilizing the "Tanner Osweiler" account. Search terms indicative of a person seeking child pornography were located. The file creation date range for the videos was September 10, 2007, through June 9, 2008.
When interviewed, OSWEILER admitted downloading child pornography via LimeWire. He stated some of his search terms were indicative of one searching for child pornography. OSWEILER said he would download about 15 videos at a time, watch them and delete them after watching.
OSWEILER possessed 600 or more images which depict child pornography, and some of the images depicts pre-pubescent children and sadistic/masochistic conduct.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that OSWEILER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, OSWEILER does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.
