Accused child-sex predator withdraws plea
A Lake Tapps pilot who pleaded guilty to 35 federal child-sex charges also will plead guilty to similar crimes in state court as part of a joint plea bargain, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said Friday.
Weldon Marc Gilbert, 48, will serve both his sentences at the same time under terms of the deal, which were made public Friday. Federal prosecutors intend to ask for a sentence of 25 years when Gilbert is sentenced Aug. 17.
He originally was charged in state court, but that case was put on hold while federal authorities prosecuted him. In 2007, he pleaded not guilty in Pierce County Superior Court to nine crimes, including child rape, child molestation and sexual exploitation of a minor.
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Lake Tapps man pleads guilty in state court
Lake Tapps man pleads guilty in state court
A Lake Tapps man sentenced this week to serve 25 years in prison for federal child-sex crimes pleaded guilty Friday to similar charges in state court.
Weldon Marc Gilbert, 49, entered guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree child molestation and nine counts of sexual exploitation of a minor in Pierce County Superior Court.
He is to be sentenced Dec. 11. Whatever sentence he receives is to be served concurrently with his federal sentence under terms of a plea deal he reached with state authorities, deputy prosecutor Patrick Hammond said.
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Child sex offender receives 25 years
Child sex offender receives 25 years
They called him a thief of innocence, a destroyer of families, the devil.
In the end, Weldon Marc Gilbert did not disagree with the assessments delivered Monday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma by the victims of his years of sex abuse.
“I caused all of these people untold embarrassment and pain,†the Lake Tapps man said before being sentenced for federal child-sex crimes. “How could I have been so blind?â€
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Lake Tapps man gets 25 years in child-sex case
Lake Tapps man gets 25 years in child-sex case
They called him a thief of innocence, a destroyer of families, the devil.
In the end, Weldon Marc Gilbert did not disagree with the assessments delivered Monday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma by the victims of his years of sex abuse.
“I caused all of these people untold embarrassment and pain,” the Lake Tapps man said before being sentenced for federal child-sex crimes. “How could I have been so blind?”
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Pilot admits to sex crimes
Pilot admits to sex crimes
Weldon Marc Gilbert, a wealthy Lake Tapps pilot accused in dozens of sex crimes involving teenage boys, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday evening.
Gilbert, 48, pleaded guilty to 31 counts of production of child pornography, two counts of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity and two counts of obstruction of justice, U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Emily Langlie said.
He could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, and has agreed to forfeit his house, a plane, a helicopter, multiple cars and “all items used in efforts to lure victims,†Langlie said.
Adam Lynn; The News Tribune
Published: 01/12/10 7:41 pm | Updated: 01/12/10 7:46 pm
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Weldon Marc Gilbert backed out of a plea agreement in Pierce County Superior Court on Tuesday, raising questions about the validity of a plea bargain in federal court that resulted in the Lake Tapps-area man receiving a 25-year sentence for child-sex crimes.
“I think it’s in jeopardy,” Gilbert’s attorney, John Henry Browne, said outside court. Assistant U.S. attorney Roger Rogoff disagreed, saying he believes the federal plea will remain in effect because Pierce County prosecutors upheld their end of the deal agreed upon by the U.S. government, the state of Washington and Gilbert.
The wealthy pilot and businessman pleaded guilty last year to 35 federal counts – 31 of them for producing child pornography. Authorities contended he used money, the promise of flying lessons and other inducement to seduce more than a dozen boys and young men to partake in sex acts at his home, much of which he videotaped.
The bargain Gilbert, 49, reached in federal court was contingent upon him pleading guilty to sex crimes in state court as well, with the caveat that Pierce County prosecutors recommend a sentence of no longer than 16 years, six months in prison to run at the same time as his federal sentence.
Deputy prosecutor Patrick Hammond was prepared to make that recommendation at Tuesday’s sentencing hearing. He, Browne and Gilbert’s other attorney, Emma Scanlan, agreed that Gilbert qualified for what’s called a determinate sentence, meaning that once Gilbert served the time set by the judge he would be discharged from the sentence.
But Superior Court Judge Susan Serko questioned whether the attorneys correctly interpreted which guidelines governed her sentencing of Gilbert. Serko indicated that she believed Gilbert could receive an open-ended sentence – called indeterminate – of 12 years, five months to life in prison, with the end date determined by the state’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board.
The judge conceded that she did not make it clear to Gilbert at his November plea hearing in state court that he faced up to life in prison. That entitled him to withdraw his guilty plea, Serko said.
“I feel strongly that he can do that,” she said.
Hammond then said he was ready to file new charges against Gilbert that would leave Serko no option but to hand Gilbert a determinate sentence, but the issue of whether his state sentence should at the same time as his federal sentence – concurrently – or begin to toll after he served his federal time – consecutively – arose.
Serko would not concede, despite subtle pressure from Browne, that she was required to order that his state sentence run concurrently to his federal one.
Browne told the judge that a consecutive sentence in state court would violate the terms of the federal plea bargain, and that grueling trials requiring the testimony of dozens of victims might then be necessary in both jurisdictions. That’s something both sides are trying to avoid, he said.
“I wasn’t aware that a judge is bound by a plea agreement, Mr. Browne,” Serko responded coolly.
“It certainly never was contemplated by anyone that I’m aware of that Mr. Gilbert, under any circumstances, would get consecutive sentences,” Browne replied.
The possibility that he could wind up spending the rest of his life in prison apparently unnerved Gilbert, who exercised his right to withdraw his plea. He also declined to plead guilty to the new charges proffered by Hammond on Tuesday.
Serko then set bail at $10 million – despite the fact that Gilbert is being detained on a federal hold – and sent his case back into the trial pipeline in Pierce County Superior Court. He is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing for Jan. 28.
Outside court, Hammond said he’s still hopeful the state can reach a plea deal with Gilbert and convince a judge to order that his state sentence be served concurrently with his federal one.
“The ball is really in Mr. Gilbert’s court at this point in time,” Hammond said.
But Browne said his client will not expose himself to a possible sentence in state court that would run consecutively to his federal sentence.
“We need some assurance that the sentence will be concurrent, or we’re not going to do it,” Browne said. “That would amount to a life sentence for Mr. Gilbert. Pleading guilty and getting a life sentence is not a very good bargain, is it?”
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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