CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced today that Robert Pantori, Jr., 51, of Charlotte, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. to 108 months in prison on child pornography charges. Judge Conrad also ordered Pantori to serve twenty years of supervised release and to register as a sex offender following his release from prison.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 27, 2017, law enforcement became aware that Pantori was using a peer to peer program to transport child pornography from his computer to another user’s computer via the internet. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Pantori’s residence, seizing his computer, and other electronic devices. A forensic examination of those devices revealed that Pantori possessed numerous images and videos of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including children as young as four.

In July 2018, Pantori pleaded guilty to transportation and possession of child pornography. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for their investigation of this case.

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Judge Conrad also sentenced today Patrick Hinson, 34, of Dallas, N.C. to 97 months in prison, followed by twenty years of supervised release, for receiving child pornography. Hinson was also ordered to register as a sex offender upon completion of his sentence.

According to court records, for more than a decade, Hinson used several peer to peer programs to search for and download child pornography. Court records show that on or about December 19, 2015, Hinson knowingly used a peer to peer program to receive a child pornography video on his computer via the internet. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Hinson’s residence, seizing his computer. A forensic examination of those devices revealed that Hinson possessed numerous images and videos of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

In August 2018, Hinson pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work on this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cortney Randall, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, handled both prosecutions.