Engineering senior Ryan Goldstein's avoidance of child pornography charges was not unusual, experts say, since many people can escape some criminal charges by cooperating with authorities.
Goldstein was sentenced last week on computer-hacking charges, but does not face charges for the several thousand images of child pornography authorities say they found on his computer because he helped the FBI catch others involved in the hacking scheme.
U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson sentenced Goldstein to one year of various types of custody, a $30,000 fine and five years of probation for his involvement in hacking into the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences' server in February 2006.
Federal sentencing guidelines call for a base sentence of 15 years in prison for possession of child pornography and an additional two years if the offender used a computer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Levy, the prosecutor in Goldstein's case, said charge bargains in exchange for cooperation are "something that happens from time to time."
Levy added that the full extent of Goldstein's cooperation is under seal, but that part of it was related to helping the FBI track down New Zealand native Owen Walker, who used Goldstein as an accomplice.
Walker is also associated with a network accused of infiltrating 1.3 million computers and skimming millions of dollars from bank accounts.
Philadelphia criminal defense attorney William Brennan agreed that a lesser charge in exchange for helping authorities is not unusual.
He also said Goldstein is lucky, because Baylson is known to give tough sentences and because "not many people get probation for anything in federal court."
Penn Law professor Paul Robinson said the federal government does not charge everyone who views child pornography on their computer with a crime; the government does not have the resources to charge that large a number of people with crimes.
"The potential number of defendants is so high that they have to limit themselves," Robinson said.
He added that authorities might not have found the pornography on Goldstein's computer if the FBI had not searched his computer in relationship to the hacking.
The federal government bases charges for child pornography possession on the number and the nature of the images the perpetrator may have, Robinson said.
He said the Pennsylvania court system could charge Goldstein with child pornography possession separately from the federal one .
Goldstein is not the only person affiliated with the University accused of having child pornography on a computer.
Former Marketing professor Scott Ward is serving a 15-year sentence for producing child pornography for importation into the United States.
He was later charged in Pennsylvania with additional child pornography counts because explicit materials were found on the computer in his Huntsman Hall office.
Ronald Levine, Goldstein's lawyer, did not return a call for comment.
