BURLINGTON — A former U.S. Border Patrol agent has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possessing child sexual abuse material and faces up to 30 months in prison.
Joshua Hartness, 45, of Colebrook, New Hampshire, entered his guilty plea to the felony charge Tuesday in federal court in Burlington.
As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to cap their prison sentence request at 30 months. His attorney will be permitted to argue for a lesser prison term. Hartness would also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.
Judge Christina Reiss held off Tuesday on accepting the plea deal until after federal probation officers complete a presentence report. She set a sentencing hearing for Nov. 24.
Reiss said she will decide whether the maximum sentence allowed under the plea deal is appropriate after reading the presentence report. Should she determine that it isn’t, the judge told Hartness he could withdraw his guilty plea and the case could proceed to a trial or other resolution.
Hartness was arrested in December on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material between May 22, 2022, and Aug. 26, 2022. On Sept. 11, 2022, his cellphone was inspected at Logan International Airport in Boston as he was returning to the United States from abroad, according to court records.
That inspection revealed potential child sexual abuse material leading to further investigation of his cellphone, court records stated.
It is not clear from charging documents what prompted investigators to inspect his cellphone upon his arrival at the Boston airport.
Hartness was arraigned in December and was released on conditions after pleading not guilty. At the time of his arrest, Hartness was working for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection as a border agent in northern Vermont. He no longer works for the federal law enforcement agency.
In March, Hartness was back in court and ordered jailed for allegedly violating the conditions of release by trying to obtain firearms.
Hartness attempted to get a “commemorative lever-action rifle,” a “fully operable” firearm designed to mark the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Border Patrol, according to court records.
Hartness was returned to the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans on Tuesday following his court hearing.
