Court affirms Sonnenberg sentence

U.S. Attorney Drew H. Wrigley announced that on Wednesday that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment and sentence entered against Gordon L. Sonnenberg, 66, of Mandan, N.D., on one count of receipt of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

On Jan. 11, 2008, Sonnenberg was sentenced in US. District Court before Chief Judge Daniel L. Hovland to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release. Sonnenberg appealed his sentence, arguing that a 1968 Iowa conviction for committing lascivious acts with children should not havetriggered a sentencing enhancement. The Eighth Circuit disagreed with Sonnenberg’s analysis and affirmed that the prior conviction qualified as a sentencing enhancement.

On May 25, 2006, detectives from the Mandan Police Department interviewed Sonnenberg, in the wake of allegations that Sonnenberg had sexual contact with children and had shown child pornography to children. Sonnenberg consented to a search of his computers, which were seized and examined by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The forensic analysts discovered hundreds of child pornographic images Sonnenberg had downloaded from the Internet onto his computer.

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Mandan Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Clare Hochhalter prosecuted the case.

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