Construction company owner indicted for child porn

The owner of Sonag Construction, Brian Ganos, is faced with three federal child pornography charges.

Charges filed on Tuesday state that 12 child porn files were in Ganos’ possession. Those files were acquired at various times in August 2016, November 2018 and March 2019. Some of the children in the images and videos were as young as preschool age. The documents don’t specify how or where Ganos received the files or how authorities discovered he had them.

This is the latest legal battle for Ganos, who is awaiting sentencing for a federal fraud case involving his construction company. He pleaded guilty in June to two charges for exploiting a program to help minority-, veteran- and women-owned businesses. Prosecutors say Ganos’ scheme defrauded the federal government of more than $200 million by establishing a web of fake companies to win set-aside contracts. He could spend more than six years in prison and be subject to a $5,000 fine.

For the child-porn charges, Ganos is due in court on Nov. 21. He’s expected to enter a plea at that time. He’ll appear in court again in December for sentencing in the fraud case.

Ganos’ attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The district attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin declined to comment.

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