Gainesville man sentenced to 30 months in prison for possession of child pornography
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Matthew Robert Pina, 27, was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in state prison, followed by 5 years of sexual offender probation, after pleading nolo contendere to two counts of possession of child pornography.
A warrant for Pina’s arrest was issued on April 28, 2022, referencing one count of possession of child pornography with intent to distribute and 11 counts of possession of child pornography that occurred on March 1, 2021. His private attorney submitted a notice to appear in the case on May 5, 2021. As is usually the case in crimes involving minors, the charging documents are not public.
Pina was arrested on May 3, 2022, and posted $650,000 cash bail on May 9.
The plea agreement is extensively marked up; the original version offered a nolo contendere plea for one count of possession of child pornography in exchange for 8 months in county jail, followed by 4.5 years of sexual offender probation. In the final version, Pina agreed to enter a plea of nolo contendere to two counts of possession of child pornography in exchange for 30 months in state prison, followed by 5 years of sexual offender probation. As part of the plea deal, the remaining 10 counts were dismissed.
Assistant State Attorney Ryan Nagel and Judge James Colaw signed off on the plea agreement.
Again sentencing does not fit the charges. All we are doing is unleashing someone to repeat the same crime or worse early. God help our children.
I agree 1000%.
I can tell you it is highly likely Judge Colaw would not accept the 8 months county jail and insisted on 30 months in prison. Not knowing his record, and not knowing if this material was (just, for instance) a couple of pics of underage girls, this sounds like a fair sentence.
He had a total of 12 charges filed against him. More than a couple of pictures. Each count is approximately 5 years. That would equate to 60 years. I would have been more impressed with 20 years prison, 20 years of probation, and life time listing on FDLE sex offender site.
What a creeper