A former local teacher Kandi F. Phillips entered a guilty plea to federal court Wednesday afternoon.
Phillips was previously indicted by a federal grand jury for Receipt of a Visual Depiction of a Minor Engaging in Sexually Explicit Conduct.
According to court documents, Phillips “did knowingly receive” an image that depicted “a male child under the age of eighteen… engaged in lascivious exhibition of his genitals and pubic area.”
The documents showed communication happened between December 2016 and February 2017.
The plea agreement stated no other charges will be filled against Phillips and other charges will be dismissed.
The range of punishment is five to 20 years. If a Federal Judge accepts Phillips’ guilty plea and gives her “supervised release” then it will be no less than five years.
Phillips’ defense attorney will file a motion to have her monitor removed due to “some swelling in her leg” and she should remain released on bond because she is of no danger to the community and not likely to flee according to her attorney.
If the judge accepts the plea agreement, in addition to Phillips’ sentencing, she will have to register as a sex offender.
Since she is pleading guilty to a felony, she will not be able to vote or possess a firearm.
