PHOENIX — A man who potentially faced a 90-year sentence under Arizona's tough dangerous-crimes-against-children law got a 40-year prison term after the prosecutor urged a judge to drop five counts.
A jury convicted Todd Robert Laughlin on nine counts of child pornography charges on Aug. 21.
Laughlin, 46, was convicted of possessing three movies and six computer images depicting children performing sex acts.
Laughlin's indictment accused him of possessing, distributing, selling or purchasing numerous computerized images of children as young as 9 between 1999 and 2002.
The charges weren't filed until forensic tests were completed and Tempe police tracked down the defendant in Prescott in 2005.
Prosecutor Ronald M. De-Brigida Jr. asked county Superior Court Judge Helene Abrams to dismiss five counts against Laughlin, saying that it was "in the interests of justice."
People are also reading…
Laughlin was sentenced on Oct. 5.
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said in a statement that "upon further review of the facts in this case, I concluded that the mandatory 90-year sentence facing the defendant was disproportionate to the offenses he was convicted of."
Barnett Lotstein, one of Thomas' top assistants, said Laughlin must serve 80 percent of his sentence — or 32 years — before being eligible for release from prison.