Former NBC News producer Phil Drechsler entered a guilty plea this week on the sole charge of distribution of child pornography, RadarOnline.com can report.
In a sudden development to come just more than one year after Drechsler, 61, was arrested in Cincinnati, Ohio, in April 2023, the disgraced NBC News staffer accepted a plea agreement offered by federal prosecutors.
According to the plea agreement filed on Monday, Drechsler could see a significantly reduced sentence for his child pornography crimes.
The revised plea agreement specified that the former NBC News producer would be required to register as a sex offender, wear a monitoring device, and stay away from certain places and activities.
Despite initially facing a potential 20-year sentence, Drechsler's recent plea deal could result in only five years in prison, five years of supervised release, and financial penalties that included restitution to his victims.
The guilty sex offender’s sentencing date has not yet been determined.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's office also outlined its position in a 22-page filing. The office promised that Drechsler would receive a sentence at the statutory minimum level for the offense.
Additionally, the federal prosecutors said they would recommend a reduced sentence based on Drechsler’s acceptance of responsibility for the crime.
“Recommend that defendant be sentenced to a term of imprisonment no higher than the statutory minimum applicable to the offense, distribution of child pornography,” the 22-page filing filed in Los Angeles on Monday read.
It should be noted that the federal judge overseeing the case ultimately reserved the right to make the final decision regarding the disgraced news producer’s sentencing and, therefore, Drechsler could potentially receive a harsher sentence deviating from the prosecution's recommendations.
The charges against Drechsler stemmed from his involvement in sharing child pornography online between August 2020 and June 2021.
The indictment revealed that the guilty party distributed a substantial amount of illegal content – including at least 100 child pornography videos – during the nearly one-year period.
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Furthermore, the investigation uncovered that Drechsler knowingly engaged in these activities and was fully aware of the nature of the material he was distributing.
“Defendant admits and agrees that he knew the images and videos that he distributed and possessed contained visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and that he knew that production of such visual depictions involved use of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” Monday’s filing revealed.
“Defendant admits and agrees that the children depicted in the child pornography images and videos are real children,” the filing continued, “and defendant downloaded the images and videos from the Internet, which is a means and facility of interstate and foreign commerce, using a computer.”
According to Deadline, law enforcement found a cache of child pornography on Drechsler’s smartphone during a raid on Drechsler’s southern California home in March of last year.
Drechsler reportedly used an alias, “Karen Flores,” when engaging in the illicit activities online.
Although Drechsler fled LA for Ohio in March 2023, he was ultimately found and arrested at a Cincinnati hotel one month later on April 17 of that year.