The FBI later linked the phone’s SIM card to a number that traveled between North Carolina and South Carolina, noting that IP addresses in both states showed the Kik account being used there, it said. There, agents found an iPhone containing graphic messages that showed Meek allegedly eager to have sex with children, trading photos and videos with other people through messaging apps such as Kik and Snapchat. In a 15-page affidavit, the FBI laid out how a tip regarding a Dropbox account linked to Meek led to the raid on his home. It was not until February that the Department of Justice fully revealed the true nature of the case: child sex abuse. The news of the raid unleashed a wave of controversy, as it at first appeared as though the Biden administration had raided a journalist doing his job, especially as the sweep targeted an Emmy-winning journalist known for a string of national-security scoops.Ĭonfider reported the following week, however, that the DOJ confirmed the raid had nothing to do with Meek’s reporting, and the ABC journalist (who left the network following the search and pulled out of a book deal) never contacted the company’s lawyers. Rolling Stone reported last October that the FBI had raided Meek’s Arlington, Virginia, home in April 2022, though it offered few details on what law enforcement sought to uncover. An ABC News spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agreement dismisses the distribution count.Ī lawyer for Meek did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In his plea agreement on Friday, Meek pleaded guilty to transportation and possession, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He was later formally indicted in March on three counts, including transportation, distribution, and possession of child porn.
Meek was arrested in February on one count of transporting child pornography images, a federal charge with a mandatory five-year prison sentence. Meek agreed to do so on the condition that, if an appeals court ruled in his favor in the future, he would be allowed to withdraw his plea. James Gordon Meek, a former star national security producer, pleaded guilty on Friday to two of the three counts he was charged with during a hearing in his federal child pornography case. The initially mysterious case of an ex-ABC News producer raided by the feds has ended.
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