United States v. Waterman, No. 13-3825 (3d Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseWaterman was a Pennsville, New Jersey police officer from 2006 until his resignation in 2011. In 2008, Waterman disclosed to a supervisor that he had downloaded videos containing child pornography to his home computer. FBI agents were informed, opened an investigation, and interviewed Waterman in 2010. Waterman stated that the computer he used to view child pornography crashed and that he threw out the hard drive in 2008. In 2010, Waterman’s superior asked him to remain in the office to talk to the chief of police. Waterman went to his patrol car and his superior found him there, breaking apart a circuit board. After searching the vehicle, officers recovered a pried-open damaged hard drive, a screwdriver, and a hammer. Asked whether this hard drive contained child pornography, Waterman responded that there was a chance that it did because he had two hard drives, one of which he threw out. The hard drive was beyond repair. Waterman pled guilty to destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation, 18 U.S.C. 1519. The district court found sufficient evidence that Waterman destroyed the hard drive after he learned of the FBI investigation. The court applied a three-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2J1.2(b)(2) for substantial interference with the administration of justice, resulting in a sentencing range of 21 to 27 months’ imprisonment. Without the enhancement, Waterman’s Guidelines range would have been 12 to 18 months. The court noted Waterman’s military service, work ethic, and dedication to his children and imposed a sentence of 15 months. The Third Circuit affirmed.
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