Eric Lipman, former basic counsel for the Florida Elections Commission, has been sentenced to 6 yrs in federal jail on kid pornography expenses.
Main U.S. District Choose Mark Walker imposed the sentence throughout a Friday hearing at the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee. Lipman ought to register as a intercourse offender and provide 9 yrs of supervised release right after his stay in jail.
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Lipman, 60, was arrested April 7, 2021 — nearly a year to the day of his sentencing — following the Leon County Sheriff’s Workplace got a tip about his computer activity from the National Center for Lacking & Exploited Kids.
Through a subsequent look for of his dwelling, regional, state and federal regulation enforcement officers learned 19 information of child sexual abuse substance. They also uncovered web lookups on his do the job laptop involving child sexual abuse, pedophiles and children involving the ages of 3 and 5, in accordance to arrest data.
“Those who seek to perspective and share kid pornography facilitate the abuse of small children by individuals who create and gain from this illegal written content,” mentioned U.S. Lawyer Jason Coody in a news launch. “With the assistance of our legislation enforcement partners, we will assure that people who engage in this sort of heinous conduct will be held accountable for their actions.”
Lipman entered into plea settlement
Lipman entered into a plea settlement with federal prosecutors past thirty day period. In trade for pleading guilty to 1 count of conspiring to distribute, receive and have kid pornography and one count of distributing child pornography, two other counts were being dropped.
Lipman began performing for the Elections Commission in 2001 as an assistant general counsel, rising to chief authorized counsel nine yrs afterwards. He was fired shortly immediately after his arrest. Right before that, he worked as a senior attorney for the Florida Division of Kids and Family members in Leon, Wakulla and Franklin counties.
His law firm, Richard H. Smith of Tallahassee, wrote in a sentencing memo that Lipman “lived an exemplary existence” that was blemished by illegal carry out that occurred above a three-hour period on Feb. 11, 2021.
“Three hrs of Mr. Lipman’s 60 decades have brought him to this place in his daily life,” wrote Smith, who asked for the cheapest doable sentence.
But John Condon, particular agent in cost of Homeland Safety Investigations in Tampa, referred to as Lipman a child predator who conspired with other people to sexually exploit younger kids.
“Because of the investigative do the job of HSI and our regulation enforcement companions at the Leon County Sheriff’s Office environment, he will no lengthier be equipped to harm our most susceptible,” Condon reported in the information release.
Sheriff Walt McNeil reported he applauded the collaborative energy by companies involved in the investigation: “We have to go on to do our owing diligence in guarding our most vulnerable and precious associates of our community.”
Get in touch with Jeff Burlew at [email protected] or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.
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