A rural Duluth man caught in a U.S. Postal Service sting for being in the possession of pornographic work involving minors received a probationary sentence Wednesday.
Michael Edward Cox, 43, pleaded guilty in October to possession of pornographic work involving minors and being in possession of a short-barreled shotgun.
Cox had no comment before being sentenced by Judge John DeSanto. The court sentenced the defendant to three years' probation, 90 days in the Sentence to Service work program, and imposed a $1,085 fine.
As conditions of his probation, Cox was ordered to undergo counseling, not possess or use any pornography, have no unsupervised contact with juvenile girls without the permission of his probation officer, and be subject to polygraph examinations to ensure his compliance with the conditions of his probation. The defendant also was ordered to abstain from using alcohol or nonprescribed drugs.
According to the criminal complaint, a postal inspector mailed an advertisement to Cox inviting him to become a customer of an "underground leader in taboo and forbidden XXX videos." The advertisement contained a checklist for various types of catalogs the defendant could request.
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On or about Dec. 27, 2007, postal inspectors received an envelope containing Cox's name and address and a completed catalog request form. The order form indicated the defendant wanted videos on pre-teen boys and girls, teenage boys and girls and "incest and family love."
About three weeks later, Cox was mailed an envelope containing an order form and catalog for the subjects he requested. The order form also noted that the movies in the catalogs are forbidden in the United States, Canada and many other parts of the world.
An undercover postal inspector delivered the 10 DVDs, and Cox accepted and signed for the parcel. Postal inspectors, with the assistance of the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, then executed a search warrant of Cox's residence.
