A former Mount Carmel police officer must spend eight years in prison for possessing child pornography, a three-judge panel has concluded.
In a 20-page opinion filed Tuesday, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel concluded the sentence imposed on Blaine R. Handerhan is proper, although the method the sentencing judge used was not perfect.
"The correct procedure was employed and a reasonable conclusion reached given the evidence presented," Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. wrote in the opinion.
As a result, Handerhan, 58, will spend eight years in a federal correctional institution, the sentence imposed on Aug. 21, 2012, in Harrisburg by Senior U.S. District Judge William W. Caldwell. He is incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey.
Caldwell also sentenced Handerhan to spend 10 years on supervised release after completion of the prison term and to pay a $100 special assessment and $75,000 restitution.
Handerhan, who served 25 years on Mount Carmel's police force, pleaded guilty Oct. 5, 2011, to possession of child pornography, with prosecutors withdrawing a charge of distribution of child pornography. Prosecutors charged him with possessing on his computer more than 6,000 images and video files of child pornography.
In his opinion, Greenaway wrote that while Caldwell did not formally rule on Handerhan's request to sentence him to only five years in federal prison, which is the better procedure, his rationale not to do so was clear from the record.
"The District Court used its discretion because it was fully informed on the issues prompting the request," Greenaway wrote.
Since Caldwell used his discretion to deny the request, the panel has no jurisdiction to reverse him, Greenaway wrote.
Furthermore, Caldwell considered all relevant factors under the law in determining what Handerhan's sentence should be, according to Greenaway. Caldwell did not merely recite the factors the law requires, including deterrence, broader effects on society, Handerhan's history and the nature and seriousness of the crime but went into details on the reasons he imposed the sentence he did, Greenaway wrote.
Finally, Greenaway wrote that a reasonable court could impose the sentence Caldwell did.
"The facts do not suggest that no other court would impose a similar sentence," he wrote.
Judges Kent A. Jordan and Marjorie O. Rendell, the other panel members, concurred in Greenaway's opinion.