NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

John L. Brownlee
United States Attorney
Heidi Coy
Public Affairs Specialist BB&T Building
310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906
Roanoke, Virginia 24011
(540) 857-2250
FAX (540) 857-2180

January 26, 2007

STANDARDSVILLE MAN CONVICTED OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND OBSCENITY CHARGES

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Derek Gavegnano, age 34, of Standardsville, Virginia, was convicted of two counts of a receiving child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of obscenity. Gavegnano was convicted on January 18th after a jury trial in United States District Court in Charlottesville.

According to evidence presented by Assistant United States Attorney Bill Gould, Gavegnano was a government employee of the National Ground Intelligence Center in Charlottesville. Gavegnano was temporarily deployed with the United States Armed Forces at Camp As Sayliah, Qatar. As part of his official duties, Gavegnano had top secret security clearance.

While deployed in Qatar, Gavegnano was discovered looking at suspicious images on his government issued computer. Upon searching his computer, FBI agents found images of child pornography as well as bestiality on Gavegnano’s computer. Agents discovered that Gavegnano was downloading pornography from the internet to his government computer.

Gavegnano faces a penalty of five to forty years and a $250,000 fine.

He will be sentenced April 20, 2007.

The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Gould prosecuted the case.