A Grand Forks man who faced 19 counts of possessing child pornography and multiple drug trafficking charges will spend about three months in jail after the majority of his offenses were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Christopher Anthony Davis, 37, was sentenced to serve one year in jail Monday, with 244 days suspended and credit for three days served, for a total of 117 days behind bars.
He entered Alford pleas for two counts of deviate sexual act, a misdemeanor. The Alford plea means Davis maintains that any deviate materials found in his possession were not his, while acknowledging the state could prove the materials exist.
He pleaded guilty to one count of delivery of a controlled substance, a Class B felony.
The state agreed to dismiss 17 of the child pornography counts and reduce two of them to misdemeanor deviate sexual act charges in a plea agreement, court records show. The State’s Attorney’s Office also agreed to dismiss two Class C felony drug charges against Davis in exchange for him pleading guilty to delivering MDMA, a form of ecstasy.
ADVERTISEMENT
Davis was arrested by members of the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force on March 22, 2016, on allegations of selling the drug MDMA. Officers said they found about 23 ecstasy tablets, marijuana and a smoking device in Davis' Ford F-150 pickup Tuesday. The truck was parked at the Memorial Union on the UND campus, according to court documents.
A search warrant executed at his home led to the alleged discovery of child pornography. Davis was charged with 19 Class C felonies related to the child pornography in August.
The child porn charges came after investigators discovered more than 190 images and 21 videos classified by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation as sexually explicit child abuse material on a computer tower belonging to Davis and seized during a search of his residence, according to documents.
An affidavit of probable cause filed Aug. 11 stated authorities seized several items related to drug trafficking, which led them to file three separate drug-related felony charges against Davis, along with the computer equipment.
According to the affidavit, Davis said in an interview with investigators he had engaged in the online purchase and sale of controlled substances. Agents with the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force began a search of the confiscated computers and eventually found images they believed appeared to be child pornography.
Throughout the case, Davis’ attorney, Theodore Sandberg, argued narcotics officers did not have a warrant to search Davis’ vehicle at Memorial Union and that the warrant obtained for Davis’ home did not extend to his computer devices.
In the plea agreement, the State’s Attorney’s office appeared to agree.
Davis will be on three years of supervised probation after serving his time, must pay $750 in court fees and forfeit $1,076 in cash seized from him as well as a handgun taken during the search.
