Department of Justice FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2010 WWW.JUSTICE.GOV CRM (202) 514-2008 TDD (202) 514-1888 FLORIDA MAN SENTENCED TO 42 MONTHS IN PRISON ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE CHARGES WASHINGTON - Brian Thomas Smith, of Gainesville, Fla., was sentenced today to 42 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term for attempted possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Thomas F. Kirwin of the Northern District of Florida. Smith, 38, pleaded guilty on March 2, 2010, before U.S. District Court Judge Stephan P. Mickle, in Gainesville, to a criminal information charging him with one count of attempted possession of child pornography and one count of obstruction of justice. According to his plea agreement, Smith admitted that he was a member of an Internet bulletin board where child pornography was posted and distributed and that he used a computer to attempt to possess and view images of child pornography as a member of that bulletin board. Smith also admitted in his plea agreement that he physically damaged his computers after being interviewed by law enforcement officers who informed Smith of a pending federal investigation related to the distribution of child pornography through the Internet. Smith admitted that he destroyed the computers with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence a pending investigation by a federal agency. The case against Smith is a result of "Operation Nest Egg," an ongoing and joint investigation led by the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Operation Nest Egg, launched in February 2008, targeted more than 500 individuals located throughout th