A decorated U.S. Air Force colonel slated to take command of the base that hosts Air Force One has been sentenced to five years in prison for receiving child pornography.
Mark Visconi, 48, of Fairfax, Virginia, was jailed on Friday after he plead guilty to receipt of child pornography in October.
He was also sentenced to 15 years of supervised release in a federal court in Alexandria.
Visconi used the anonymous Tor network to download child pornography, according to a news release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A forensic review of his laptop showed he had downloaded and viewed "numerous" pictures and videos of child pornography.
According to court documents, he also took 441 pictures on his own phone "focusing on the clothed buttocks" of underage girls. Some of these pictures were "upskirting" images and prosecutors said the girls did not appear to be aware they were being taken.
"This man not only deliberately sought out illicit content, he produced and distributed it. He made himself a participant in this cruel, abhorrent industry that exploits the most the vulnerable in our society – our children," said Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.
Visconi won two Bronze Star medals for combat missions in Iraq, where he also trained Iraqi pilots on how to carry out counterinsurgency operations.
Before his arrest, Visconi served as the chief of the Air Force's counter-drone task force and was on track to take command of the 11th Air Wing at Joint Base Andrews, the home of Air Force One, Air Force spokeswoman Lynn Kirby told Task & Purpose.
But now, the Air Force will seek to have him removed from service.
"He is still currently a colonel in the Air Force," Air Force spokeswoman Carrie Volpe said.
"Now that sentencing is complete, the Air Force will begin the process to have him removed from the service. If approved, this will result in the loss of Col. Visconi's ability to apply for retirement or to receive any other benefit afforded for honorable service."
His security clearance was suspended after the Air Force was alerted to his activity on the dark web by law enforcement agencies, an Air Force official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told USA Today. The Air Force has been contacted for additional comment.
Visconi was also ordered to pay restitution to one identified victim and complete 50 hours of community service by speaking or writing about his experience and conviction, ICE said.
The five-year jail sentence handed to him by Judge T.S. Ellis III is less than the 10-year sentence prosecutors sought.
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shewhomustbeobeyed ago
Hey @think-, I haven't been able to view archives with the '.fo' ending for awhile now. Do you know if anyone else is experiencing the same?
Can you still see the archive when you click it? I can't figure why other endings work. @MadWorld @Vindicator
MadWorld ago
Tested with 3 different IPs in different countries, all working fine. The problem may be on your end. Did it show any error message?
shewhomustbeobeyed ago
I think I figured out. VPNs are problem. Wonder why it's just the one ending and not others. Been going on for about a month. Maybe archive.today don't like me. =)
MadWorld ago
No, archive.today likes you! But your VPN provider tried to break up this relationship XD
shewhomustbeobeyed ago
Are you calling my VPN a whore? A Trollop? A Homewrecker?
How dare you.
MadWorld ago
:-) Follow the money?
shewhomustbeobeyed ago
o_O
It was a present from family. Guess I got what I paid for. This is why I ask you guys this stuff, instead of them.
Acting like they're all smart. Pfffttt.
VPN = slut.
I'll try fishing for different countries, to see if it gets fixed.
Thank you.
MadWorld ago
VPNs can turn into censoring tool, largely due to jewish influence, unfortunately. It is also possible that the .fo domains got blacklisted in general. You can still use other archive domains for the time being.
That "follow the money" was a joke about you paying for the whore service XD
shewhomustbeobeyed ago
I know, I did't think it accusation. :p