Defense asks for time to review report
The sentencing of Charles E. “Chuck” Hustis III, a former Cold Spring trustee and mayoral candidate who pleaded guilty in November to the attempted receipt of child pornography, was postponed from Thursday (March 18) to April 6.
Hustis’ defense attorney asked for more time to respond to a sentencing report completed on March 5 by a federal probation officer.
Hustis, 37, was arrested in December 2019 by FBI agents in the Foodtown parking lot in Cold Spring, where they alleged he was waiting to meet a 16-year-old for sex. According to an investigator’s report, Hustis solicited explicit photos from the teen via Facebook Messenger.
The child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for a defendant with no prior convictions, although in some circumstances prosecutors can ask for leniency. Hustis pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 as part of a plea deal in which prosecutors dropped a charge of child enticement, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years.
