Wade Sanders (R) along with his attorney Knut Johnson,
walks into federal court in downtown San Diego, May 4, 2009.
Posted on 05/03/2009 5:11:50 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
FEDERAL COURT — War hero, activist, former high-ranking Pentagon official – Wade Sanders has led a life full of peril and achievement, of great highs and deep lows.
Just a few years ago, Sanders stood onstage at the Democratic National Convention as his fellow veteran, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., accepted his party's presidential nomination.
That was a high point.
Tomorrow afternoon in federal court in San Diego likely will be a low point for him.
Sanders, 69, is scheduled to be sentenced after pleading guilty in December to possession of child pornography.
He could face as much as 10 years in prison after federal agents found child pornography on several of his home computers.
Just as Sanders once stood behind Kerry, the senator is now standing behind him. In one of dozens of letters submitted on behalf of Sanders, Kerry urged U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan to weigh Sanders' record of service and community work when making a decision on sentencing.
The hearing promises to be dramatic, with more than 50 people lining up in support of Sanders. In addition to Kerry, they include former U.S. senator and war hero Max Cleland of Georgia, who headed the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter.
Also offering support are former Rep. Lynn Schenk of San Diego, a lawyer and longtime friend of Sanders; and numerous retired Navy officers, friends and relatives of Sanders. Bernie Jones, the Opinion page editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune, where numerous commentaries by Sanders have been published over the years, also wrote a letter opposing a prison term.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessandra Serano is seeking a 63-month sentence for Sanders, as well as a requirement that he register as a sex offender and be on 10 years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
The case against Sanders started in October 2007, when an FBI agent went online to search for people sharing child pornography using a file-sharing computer network.
The agent entered a search term widely used by pornographers, and among the results returned was one that eventually linked to Sanders' home computer.
A few months later, FBI agents raided Sanders' San Diego home. In court papers, Serano said three computers seized in the raid had child pornography on them.
Sanders and his attorney, Knut Johnson, say that Sanders was downloading the images as part of a research project on the subject. In her court papers, Serano noted that at the time of the raid, Sanders never told this to FBI agents.
Serano also said no notes or other materials relating to a research project were found. In a meeting with prosecutors before he pleaded guilty, Sanders did produce three pages of handwritten notes that were undated, she said.
Sanders also is arguing that his work was a product of an obsessive-compulsive disorder he has developed. He claims it is a product of post-traumatic stress disorder, which he said is a crippling residue of his combat service.
Sanders was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart in his military career. He led a Swift boat on numerous missions in Vietnam, often coming under intense fire and harrowing circumstances.
In a 13-page statement to Whelan, Sanders talks at length about that experience and how it shaped him. “There is a part of me that died in Vietnam and now, for the first time in my life I am facing that reality,” it begins.
One symptom of PTSD is compulsive behavior, Johnson argued. He said Sanders became “obsessed about writing an article or otherwise uncovering the source of child pornography.”
In his letter, Kerry lauded Sanders' record in the war and after, when Sanders became a prominent advocate for veterans' causes.
“The Wade Sanders I know is someone who has always put love of country first,” Kerry wrote. “He's been an advocate for his friends, his fellow veterans, his state and his country.”
Kerry is such a paradox in his own right. This is the guy who decried baby killers, then went on to support...
When we have men of his moral standing in government trying to use moral judgment, we should realize what we’re going to get.
I know you do Norm.
Many people scream and carry on demanding to have drug addicts locked up and the key thrown away who have done far less wrong than someone engaged in pedophilia. ...
Military background or not, let the old fart roast in prison.
You do not harm kids, nor do you look at children engaging in sexual acts.
I hear the tossed salad is pretty good in prison. Ha.
Did any democrats stand up and speak for the children who were raped and tortured for Wade Sander’s viewing pleasure?
I hear ya.
Should be announcing sentence shortly, will update if the Judge gets it.. or buys the liberal line and lie.
killing a little time here. :-)
some more story links for today
Lt. Gov. (John Garamendi) Adviser Admits Possessing Child Porn
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Lt-Gov-Adviser-Guilty-of-Possessing-Child-Porn.html
War Hero Enters Court for Child Porn Sentence
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/War-Hero-To-Be—Sentenced-For-Child-Porn.html
Wade Sanders (R) along with his attorney Knut Johnson,
walks into federal court in downtown San Diego, May 4, 2009.
War hero gets 37 months in prison
SD U-T // Greg Gross at 03:42 PM
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/index.html
Wade Sanders, onetime war hero, activist and Pentagon official, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
Ex-Pentagon Official Sentenced To 37 Months For Child Porn (Democrat Wade Sanders)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2244129/posts
If Cleland had stayed home with the draft dodgers, he would never have been in a position to blow himself up with a grenade.
Lots of our soldiers were killed because they “screwed up” and didn’t follow the safest procedures, but they are respected because they put themselves in an arena where mistakes are paid with life and limb in order to serve our country.
How many Americans watched the war from the safety of their living rooms while men like Cleland or their neighbor down the street risked their lives on their behalf? Even most of those who served in Vietnam never had to engage in a firefight. How many of us might also have made a mistake under fire that cost us our lives?
Have a little respect for our soldiers. Their service is why you get to freely express your views dishonoring their service.
I
If Cleland had stayed home with the draft dodgers, he would never have been in a position to blow himself up with a grenade.
Lots of our soldiers were killed because they “screwed up” and didn’t follow the safest procedures, but they are respected because they put themselves in an arena where mistakes are paid with life and limb in order to serve our country.
How many Americans watched the war from the safety of their living rooms while men like Cleland or their neighbor down the street risked their lives on their behalf? Even most of those who served in Vietnam never had to engage in a firefight. How many of us might also have made a mistake under fire that cost us our lives?
Have a little respect for our soldiers. Their service is why you get to freely express your views dishonoring their service.
I
Oh I have respect, that is where you made your first mistake, thinking I did not. Your second mistake was suggesting that I am ‘dishonoring’ the service of any veteran which is a bald faced lie. You need to stop lying, liars go to Hell.
And I point out (as have others) that Cleland is in fact a hero for his actions of 4 April 1968 for which he was awarded the Silver and Bronze Stars.
Now here is where you get to practice what you’re preaching:
Show some respect for Cleland *yourself* and accept what he has said many times, that his actions regarding that live grenade were anythimg BUT ‘heroic’.
And as heroic as his actions before 8 April ‘69 were, ask yourself why someone of Cleland’s stature would sully his own honor by defending the likes of Wade Sanders, a child porn purveyor and pervert?
Wasn’t Bernie Ward, another sick democrat, also just doing research on child porn?????????
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