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‘Filled with shame’: Court hears from former construction exec guilty of child porn charges

‘Filled with shame’: Court hears from former construction exec guilty of child porn charges

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Photo of Brian Ganos
Brian Ganos

The former Milwaukee construction executive Brian Ganos told a judge he was “filled with shame” at his sentencing hearing for two federal child-pornography charges.

Ganos, who used to own Sonag Construction, had a sentencing hearing over the phone in federal court on Friday morning. He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child pornography in February in exchange for the court’s dropping a third charge.

Judge J. P. Stadtmueller recessed the court somewhat abruptly on Friday without sentencing Ganos for his crimes. The maximum penalty for his crimes includes up to 87 months in prison, life on supervised release and a $200,000 fine.

“I’m filled with shame,” Ganos told Stadtmueller at the beginning of the hearing. “I offer my heartfelt apologies for having these images.”

Megan Paulson, the government’s attorney, asked Stadtmueller to impose a 76-month prison sentence on Ganos to follow the six-and-a-half years he’s already serving for a decades-long, multi-million construction contract fraud scheme.

Paulson asked the court to consider the graphic nature of the pornography, the effect it has on the victims and the timing of the crime. She said the prosecution learned from witnesses that Ganos had a history of viewing child porn.

“I believe somebody like Mr. Ganos would, given the opportunity, would defer to an hands-on offense,” Paulson said. “He’s a financial fraud and a sexually deviant individual.”

Stephen Hurley, Ganos’ attorney, said no one has ever suggested Ganos had hands-on contact with a minor. He argued 76 months was an onerous sentence for something Ganos has never done.

“It’s easy to become indignant about child pornography because there’s nothing socially redeeming about it,” Hurley said.

Hurley believed a concurrent sentence would be appropriate for Ganos’s case.

There was some discrepancy about costs for special assessments for each count. Paulson said she had discussed the costs on email, but the judge said the presentence report was completely silent about it.

“We don’t do business under the table,” Stadtmueller said before recessing the court.

The government may submit an updated special-assessment calculation to the probation office, and then Ganos’ sentencing hearing will resume at a later date.

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