BANGOR, Maine — The state’s former top drug prosecutor has appealed his sentence of nearly 14 years in federal prison on child pornography charges to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, according to information posted on the court’s electronic case filing system.
James M. Cameron, 52, of Rome filed a notice of appeal on Dec. 23 in U.S. District Court in Bangor, less than a week after he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John Woodcock.
Briefs have not yet been filed in the case and a date for oral arguments in Boston has not been set, according to the 1st Circuit’s electronic case filing system.
Woodcock sentenced Cameron to a total of 15 years and nine months — 13 years and nine months on the child pornography charges and a consecutive two years for his flight from Maine in November 2012.
Cameron is not appealing the sentence on the contempt charge related to his flight, his attorney, Federal Public Defender David Beneman, said Monday.
The contempt charge is related to Cameron’s escape from Maine while on bail on Nov. 14, 2012, the day after the appellate court in Boston upheld seven of 13 child pornography counts. He was captured on Dec. 2, 2012, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Beneman declined Monday to comment on the legal basis for the appeal. At the sentencing, the public defender recommended Cameron serve 6 ½ years in prison — five on the child pornography charges and 18 months for his flight.
In his 54-page sentencing memorandum, Beneman said that his survey of similar cases around the country showed that the five-year minimum was often imposed. The federal public defender wrote that in 2012 the median national sentence was 6½ years. In that same time period, the sentence in the 1st U.S. Circuit, which includes Maine, was five years and one month.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gail Malone, who prosecuted the case, recommended Cameron be sentenced to between 24 and 30 years.
His original sentence on the child pornography charges was 16 years.
In addition to prison time, Woodcock sentenced Cameron to six years of supervised release after he completes his incarceration. The judge also ordered Cameron to pay $2,500 in restitution for counseling to a victim, whose photos he viewed.
Those elements are not being appealed, according to Beneman.
To reach a sexual assault advocate, call the Statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 800-871-7741, TTY 888-458-5599. This free and confidential 24-hour service is accessible from anywhere in Maine. Calls are automatically routed to the closest sexual violence service provider.