Joel Dudley, 29, of Westbrook, was convicted Tuesday after a two-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Portland of making a false declaration to a federal court.
According to U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II and court records and evidence introduced at trial, in April of 2013, Dudley testified at a hearing on a motion to suppress statements he made during an interview with law enforcement agents in connection with an investigation of him for possession of child pornography. At the suppressing hearing held in U.S. District Court in Portland, Dudley falsely testified that he repeatedly invoked his right to counsel during the interview, but that agents continued to question him in violation of his constitutional rights. Today’s guilty verdict reflected the jury’s conclusion that Dudley’s suppression hearing testimony was knowingly false and material to, or capable of influencing the outcome of, the hearing at which he testified.
On Feb. 25, Dudley was convicted of possession of child pornography after a two-day jury trial in U.S. District Court. Dudley will be sentenced on both cases after completion of a pre-sentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the child pornography charge, and a maximum sentence of up to 5 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the false declaration charge, Delahanty said.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Westbrook Police Department.
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