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.