A Johnson City businessman with more than 20 years of experience in environmental engineering and connections to civic organizations, including the Special Olympics, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greeneville in early April to a charge of activities regarding material constituting/containing child pornography.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee alleged that on or around June 10, 2003, Dale E. Schreiber, head of Schreiber & Associates, LLC, knowingly possessed a computer containing an image of child pornography.
According to court documents, the charge stems from an investigation that started in December 2001. At that time, the FBI was contacted by the Johnson City Police Department, which had received information on a person using the screen name "easttn48" who was involved in child pornography. The screen name was identified through subscriber records as belonging to Schreiber.
According to court documents, the Knoxville Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force agreed to provide online undercover assistance in the investigation. The task force contacted "easttn48" via computer and set up a meeting at a hotel with Schreiber to "exchange child pornography." Schreiber reportedly told investigators he had a "number of hard-core kiddie porn pictures."
Undercover agents set up a June 10, 2003, meeting with Schreiber in Johnson City, according to documents. When Schreiber came to the meeting, he learned of the undercover operation and reportedly voluntarily submitted to an interview and admitted his involvement with child pornography.
Schreiber also consented to a search of his laptop computer and gave task force members permission to assume his own online identity for the "purpose of identifying other traders of child pornography," according to court documents.
The forensic analysis of Schreiber's computer disclosed 146 images, of which 86 were child pornography.
Schreiber denied ever having sexual contact with a minor and took a polygraph test on July 9, 2003, on the issue.
Schreiber pleaded guilty to an information, meaning a grand jury indictment was not necessary in the charge of activities regarding material constituting/containing child pornography.
"You don't have to go through the long process (of a grand jury), especially if you're in agreement with the government," Schreiber's attorney, Mark Slagle, explained of the process of pleading to an information.
Schreiber was placed in the custody of the U.S. marshals on April 11, the day of his guilty plea. He is being held as a federal prisoner in the Washington County Detention Center in Jonesborough.
A sentencing date for Schreiber is scheduled for July 25 before Judge Ronnie Greer.
The crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, up to life of supervised release, and a mandatory assessment fee of $100.
Slagle said the case will be a unique one, citing his client's unspecified medical condition as a big issue.
"We are preparing a hearing based upon some fairly serious medical problems of which no one was aware until we began our representation and looking at the crime and the reasons for it," Slagle said.
Bookmarks