Former Calimesa councilman sentenced to prison
Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/10/2009 05:53:10 PM PDT
RIVERSIDE - A former Calimesa councilman admitted Friday that he violated his probation when he used a computer to arrange a hotel meeting with a man.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge James T. Warren sentenced Jon Winningham to report back to his courtroom Friday to begin his two-year prison sentence.
Winningham, 53, was arrested in September after being caught chatting online with a law enforcement decoy.
After the former councilman pleaded guilty in early 2007 to 13 counts of possession and intent to distribute child pornography, he was given five years of probation and ordered not to use a computer.
The defense requested home confinement and probation instead of prison time because of several health issues Winningham suffers from.
"If Mr. Winningham goes to jail or prison, he may very well not survive," said attorney Brent Romney, adding that Winningham "has been a very good citizen for 50 years."
Prosecutor Hunter Taylor argued against home confinement because Winningham's probation violation may have not included child pornography, but "the defendent uses the Internet to fulfill his sexual desires."
The judge, who did not impose a maximum sentence, expressed concern that Winningham went out of his way to hide his computer use. Winningham was sending sexually explicit messages from a library computer rather than his home computer.
"I am concerned that Mr. Winningham went out of his way to use a computer that the District Attorney was unlikely to find out about," Warren said.
Winningham was granted a week to see his doctors and get his affairs in order before being taken into custody on Friday. He was credited with 351 days served.
Winningham served more than 13 years on the council before his first arrest in 2006. He refused to step down from his post, despite a petition drive demanding his resignation.
stacia.glenn@inlandnewspapers.com
(909) 386-3887
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His supposed "life-threatening" medical condition didn't stop him from trying to meet up with a male for sex at the Banning hotel. He's just trying to weasel out of the punishment due to him. I hope the prison officials place him in the general population. He obviously didn't learn his lesson the last time while serving time in the county jail medical unit. His behavior leads me to believe that he thinks he is above the law, he needs to be taught a lesson.
Good citizen? Really? I didn't know that distributing child pornography was something a good citizen did.