It is far from over. More than a month later Josh DuggarThe disgraced reality star, who was convicted of possessing child pornography and received child pornography, began serving his sentence.
“He’s gonna appeal the case both in terms of the finding of guilt and the sentence [itself],” Neama RahmaniFormer Federal Prosecutor and President West Coast Trial Lawyers: Us WeeklyOnly about the 19 Kids and Counting alum’s recent trial. Duggar, 35 years old, was found guilty on two counts of possessing child pornography and receiving it in December 2021. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in May 2022. Duggar will also receive 20 years of supervision release after his time in prison is up.
Two weeks after his sentence was served, the former car salesman appealed to an Arkansas judge, arguing about the one count he was convicted. “Count Two [of possessing child pornography] was dismissed by the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas on May 25, 2022,” the filing, which was obtained by UsThis is what it reads in June 2022. “This Notice is being filed by Duggar’s trial counsel, Justin K. Gelfand, Ian. T. Murphy, and Travis W. Story … on Duggar’s behalf and pursuant to Duggar’s request,” Duggar’s attorneys stated.
Rahmani, however, tells despite the filing Use that Duggar “doesn’t really have a good defense” to file an appeal on the basis of a wrongful conviction due to all of the evidence that was presented against him at the trial. “I mean, these images were on his HP laptop computer, there’s a digital paper trail that shows that he’s on the internet downloading these images.”
He continued: “I don’t think he has a very good argument on appeal. These possession cases can be very difficult. When they’re on your computer and there is that digital footprint, both in terms of the actual guilt and in terms of the sentence, he’s very likely gonna lose.”
Duggar will also likely struggle to appeal for a lesser sentence, Rahmani explained, noting that the TLC personality did not receive an “unduly harsh” punishment for his crimes. “[12 years] tends to be a normal sentence for someone who’s convicted of possessing child pornography,” he said, adding that a child pornography conviction carries a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison. “The government did ask for the max [in this case], but 12 and a half years is consistent with how judges across the country are sentencing these cases.”
Rahmani also dismissed the notion that Duggar was the victim of harsh prosecutions because of his celebrity status. “He’s treated like anyone else. You know, it doesn’t matter if you’re a celebrity,” he stated, adding that he is one of many famous faces who “have been convicted in federal court. So, they’re treated just like any other inmate.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about what’s next for Duggar as he begins his prison sentence: