A former consultant for an Effingham County subdivision has been convicted of child pornography charges in Florida.
Michael Meister, 57, was found guilty on Sept. 23 in federal court of two counts of child pornography possession and one count of distributing child pornography.
Meister served as a consultant for Park West Effingham, a subdivision, off Ga. 30 (Noel C. Conaway Road).
Meister was arrested in 2010 under a sealed three-county indictment issued by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla.
The right to a jury trial was waived by Meister and he agreed to stipulate to facts that supported his convictions as to the indictment. The agreement allows Meister to preserve his right to appeal the District Court’s order denying a motion to suppress evidence, according to court documents. The motion to suppress involves the search of Meister’s computer.
In the stipulation Meister admitted he took his laptop computer to a repair shop in Pinellas County, Fla. and asked that files to be transferred to a new laptop.
The computer technician found images that he believed were child pornography and he then contacted law enforcement.
The stipulation states that Meister’s hard drive contained numerous “visual depictions”, including images and videos involving minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The stipulation also states that Meister received images of child pornography via Yahoo! Messenger Sharing and downloaded file sharing programs he used to receive and distributed child pornography.
Meister spent a good deal of time in Effingham County prior to his arrest working for Park West in a lawsuit against the county in 2009 over the collection of impact fees. Park West won the suit.
Documents in the Park West suit listed Meister as a managing partner. Following Meister’s arrest, however, owners of Park West Effingham said Meister was a consultant, not a managing partner. Park West also severed all ties with Meister at that time.
Since Meister’s arrest he has been allowed by the federal judge to travel to a number of cities, including Savannah. The Savannah visits are listed as work on an unnamed civil suit.
He pled not guilty to the charges in 2010 and court documents stated he intended on using an insanity defense.
Meister was given a warning by the judge in November of 2010 for removing his ankle monitoring bracelet on Halloween.
Court documents state that Meister also offered to donate a kidney following his arrest. He was soon after diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to court documents.
Meister is free on bail and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19.