COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A Columbia County man pleaded guilty in Jacksonville on Tuesday to a federal charge of receiving child pornography over the Internet.

Robert Allen Brammer, 24, is facing a minimum sentence of at least five years in prison and up to 20 years, along with a $250,000 fine and a potential life term of probation, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to court documents, a detective working with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force began an undercover operation to identify persons using a particular file sharing program on the internet to obtain and share child pornography. According to the news release, investigators found that images of child pornography were being offered from an IP address used by Brammer.

On September 3, 2010, a federal search warrant was executed at Brammer's residence and a laptop and a desktop computer were seized. Brammer told investigators he had begun searching for and downloading child pornography about three and a half years earlier, according to the news release.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

First Coast News