Former Wrangell doctor Greg Salard will spend the next 20 years in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography.
Salard was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Juneau on Tuesday after his conviction during a jury trial in Juneau last July.
Salard appeared in court slightly thinner and without his horseshoe moustache. He smiled at his wife and a family friend in the gallery after he took his seat at the defense table.
The maximum possible sentence was just over 30 years, but prosecutor Leslie Fisher asked for 20 years. Salard’s defense attorney Steven Wells asked for a sentence of no more than five years.
Wife Laura Salard pleaded for leniency as she read a short statement to the court. She said the charges were not consistent with his character.
Attorneys spent a large portion of Tuesday’s hearing arguing whether unproven allegations that Salard earlier abused a stepdaughter should be considered in sentencing.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess repeatedly asked Fisher how much weight he should place on such allegations after not getting a satisfactory or explicit answer from her.
Not only are the allegations still unproven, Wells argued that they’ve also been voiced by an angry ex-wife who may have prompted and coached the girl about what to say. He said the allegations have been disputed by the girl’s brother.
In Louisiana courts, Salard will face a charge of aggravated rape and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Judge Burgess said the activity Salard was accused of was the same type of behavior he watched on his computer.
He believed that Salard knew what he was doing when he modified a version of the Ares peer-to-peer file sharing program to download as much pornography as possible while uploading only a few files. Judge Burgess also noted that Salard’s hurried efforts to wipe his computer of child porn as officers were at his doorstep was “consciousness of guilt.” He also said that Salard was a “sophisticated and manipulative person able to compartmentalize his life and hide his behavior from others.”
Judge Burgess also ordered Salard to pay a $25,000 fine and be under supervised release for the rest of his life if he ever gets out of prison. A court hearing to determine the amount of restitution is scheduled for April in Juneau.
Wells asked that Salard be housed at a federal prison in Arkansas so that he could be near his family. He earlier asked for placement at a Missouri facility so he could receive continuing treatment after thyroid cancer surgery.
Wells stepped in as Salard’s attorney after complaints that his former attorney, a public defender, failed to mount an adequate defense or prepare for his jury trial.
Wells told Laura Salard while leaving the courtroom on Tuesday that he planned to file a notice of appeal.
