February 18, 2010
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Pinellas County Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Possession, Promotion of Child Pornography
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Pinellas County man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for possession and promotion of child pornography. Samuel Keller pleaded guilty to 20 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of promotion of child pornography.
Keller was arrested in July 2009 after he began chatting with an undercover Boynton Beach police officer and eventually sent the undercover officer images of child pornography. Investigators with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit, the Boynton Beach Police Department, the Boca Raton Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confiscated computers from Keller’s St. Petersburg home and office and discovered numerous images of child pornography. Some of the images discovered were of children appearing to be no older than three years old.
Keller was prosecuted by attorneys with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit and was sentenced by the Judge Philip Federico in Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit. In addition to his prison sentence, Keller must serve 10 years of sex offender probation upon his release and will be required to register with the state as a sex offender.