A 62-year-old Madison man who was sentenced to federal prison this week for possessing child pornography, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on two state drug trafficking charges Wednesday.

Lester Brown was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for possessing hundreds of child pornography images and movies on his home computer, according to court records.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty in Somerset County Superior Court to two charges of unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs, according to court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison to be served concurrently to his federal sentence after selling illegal drugs to a police officer at his Old Point Avenue home.

Brown pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, a class C felony, in March. He was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

Brown became the subject of an investigation by state police in February 2012 when the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department was told he had child pornography on his computer, according to court records.

Prosecutor and assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCormack said investigators knocked on the door of Brown’s home and he agreed to allow them to conduct an examination of his computer, where they found 795 images and two movies of child pornography on an attached hard drive, according to the records. Brown admitted to knowing the images were there and told investigators he was curious about children but had never touched a child, according to the records.

The images, which were found to be in Brown’s possession between June 2011 and November 2012, were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which identified the victims as children from throughout the United States and the world. One image of a girl less than 11 years of age depicted her being sexually abused by an adult male, according to the records.

McCormack said the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to assist in the investigation, at which point the FBI also became involved.

In October 2012, two FBI agents traveled to Madison to assist with the investigation and Brown admitted to them that he had obtained a second computer containing more child pornography, according to McCormack’s account. The second computer was one reason why the investigation became a federal case, said McCormack.

“In our view, it seems that if you’re going to be tempered from possessing pornography by the police it would stop you, but obviously it didn’t in this case,” said McCormack. He said he could not discuss other reasons why the case was taken to federal court.

During the investigation, police also searched Brown’s email records and found several in which he had sent pictures of himself to others, dozens of images of child pornography that had been sent and received as well as some comments that Brown said he liked several of the images, according to records.

The maximum sentence for possession of child pornography is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Supervised release is required for a minimum of five years.

Jeffrey Silverstein, attorney for Brown, wrote in a statement to the court that he asked Chief Justice John A. Woodcock for a less severe sentence because Brown has no criminal history, including having no convictions for sexual offenses, was advancing in age and had deteriorating health, including arthritis, diabetes and depression, for which he is prescribed medication to manage his mental health.

In May 2012, Brown illegally sold hydrocodone pills to an undercover Madison police officer on two occasions, according to a police affidavit. He was charged with two counts of unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs.

His sentence also includes a five-year supervision period following his release during which he is not allowed to possess a firearm and is subject to drug and DNA testing, according to court records.

Rachel Ohm —  612-2368
rohm@centralmaine.com