The Nebraska Supreme Court has found that a Platte County prosecutor violated terms of a plea bargain by promising to recommend probation, but later seeking jail time for a man convicted of having child pornography.
In 2011, 20-year-old Angel Landera, of Columbus, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possessing child pornography in a plea bargain with prosecutors, who agreed to drop 10 other charges and recommend probation in exchange for Landera’s guilty pleas.
However, the prosecutor said at Landera’s sentencing that she was disturbed by the results of his presentence evaluation and that “I can’t recommend probation …”
The high court said that while prosecutors can make some jail time a condition of probation, in Landera’s case, the prosecutor argued for jail time instead of probation, violating the agreement.