A family relative was arrested by the FBI in April 2012. 17 months later he has never been charged/indicted. He is being held under suspicion of producing and distributing child pornography. He was a reputable fashion photographer who it is believed had one of his photos altered by known child pornographers who obtained his photo from his website. His lawyer hired computer forensic specialists and they determined the image was lifted and photo shopped. That said he has never been charged/indicted and there he sits in Federal prison for 17 months. They offered him a plea deal and he denied it. Following that offer they moved him into a harder facility and cut his contact with family via the prison email system. Another problem is because he has never been indicted he is not entitled to use the Fed Prison store. He must pay for any medical care where as prisoners that have been indicted are able to use the medical system for a $2 fee. How long can the Feds legally hold someone with an indictment. Thanks.

There must be some reason you haven't been told which allows the Feds to hold him longer than the Federal Speedy Trial Act would seem to provide.

What does his lawyer say?

Hello H:

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A family relative was arrested by the FBI in April 2012. 17 months later he has never been charged/indicted.

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In this country, you cannot be held longer than 72 hours WITHOUT being charged. So, he's CHARGED.

Next is the speedy trial thing, which he probably waived...

So, either he has the worst lawyer in the world, or you're not being told exactly what happened..

Excon

If he is in a prison, not a detention center, there is a serious issue, he must have caused serious trouble or security problem.

But he has been changed, he would have been changed at the time of arrest, esp if they did it with a warrant. So they can hold him till trial, the longer both sides makes motoins, the longer he can be in there. His attorney should be filing for speedy trial.

And so, the governments expert witness will most likely say, these files were in the computer, if they were photo shopped they will merely say he did it,but their witness will often just say his witness is wrong.

Happens all the time, one expert witness will say one thing, another will say, that witness is wrong.

Obviously this has more issues than just this, and they either believe he was major distributor of the porn, or believes more criminal contact is done.

He is on detainee status, if not convicted, and they are normally keep in detention centers, these centers are often inside or attached to other major prisons, but this is not considered "in prison" merely detained.