Disgraced former ABC investigative journalist James Gordon Meek is set to plead guilty to federal child pornography charges, which could land him behind bars for decades.
Meek, 53, is expected to appear in a federal courtroom in Virginia on Friday to change his plea to guilty.
The move to change his plea comes after his attorney filed a motion in July to delay his July trial, The Daily Beast reported.
The filing argued that the delay would allow Meek’s team and prosecutors to ‘engage in discussions regarding a possible resolution of the case.’
A plea deal could see Meek receive a minimum sentence of less than five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted at trial.
Disgraced former ABC investigative journalist James Gordon Meek is reportedly set to plead guilty to child pornography offenses during an upcoming hearing in federal court.
The disgraced producer, 53, was charged in April with three counts of child pornography, including the possession and distribution of images depicting children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
After an FBI raid on the Emmy Award-winning producer’s Virginia home in April 2022, evidence was found that allegedly showed Meek sent explicit images of himself to minors, impersonated an underage girl to engage with minors online, and participated in conversations in which participants Expressed the desire to abuse children, the federal prosecutor.
Mick’s lawyer, Eugene Gorokhov, is now seeking a conditional plea that would allow his client to withdraw a guilty or no contest plea if an appeals court later rules in his favor or changes the evidence in the case.
Defense attorneys alleged in pre-trial motions that the FBI raid on Meek’s Arlington property illegally obtained evidence.
Although those arguments were dismissed by the judge, any subsequent appeal could bring those allegations back into focus.
The former producer initially pleaded not guilty in the case, but court records indicate he plans to change that plea during Friday’s hearing.
Meek is currently in federal custody awaiting trial after a judge revoked his bail and declared him a risk to the community.
Meek’s alleged predatory behavior first came to light in March 2021 when Dropbox alerted authorities to child porn stored on his account, the New York Post reported.
Mick has been charged with three counts of child phonography and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted at trial.
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On April 27, 2022, raiding agents seized a laptop, external hard drive and multiple iPhones that reportedly contained child pornography.
In the wake of the investigation, Meek abruptly resigned from the network and disappeared from public view.
Following the raid, the department obtained a search warrant for Meek’s iCloud account on November 14.
They allegedly captured backups of two of his devices and included a screenshot of a candid discussion. Investigators also uncovered an Apple laptop containing ‘approximately 90 images and videos of child pornography’.
Meek, 53, was spotted by Newstimesuk.com last October after keeping a low profile following a raid on his apartment in Arlington, Virginia.
Meek made his reputation at the New York Daily News, where his five-year investigation forced military brass to admit that Army Private First Class David Sharrett II had been shot by his own commanding officer.
Mick was a 2022 Foley Freedom Award recipient
Mick’s apartment building, where he lived until April in Arlington, Virginia
Snapchat and Instagram accounts were also uncovered that allegedly contained conversations and photos of unidentified women.
Mick was arrested the following January and formally sentenced in April.
Federal investigators released a series of letters in April in which federal investigators and attorneys described how Meek and others ‘pressured’ a 16-year-old girl into having sex, despite the minor sharing her age with Meek, the Daily Beast reported.
Before his fall, Mick built a reputation for trailblazing journalism, uncovering shocking military cover-ups, friendly fire deaths and foiled terrorist plots.
In 2017 he won an Emmy Award for his work on the Pulse nightclub shooting.
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