Monday, May 3, 2010
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Attorney Gets Six-Month Sentence in Child Pornography Case
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A La Canada attorney investigated as part of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement probe of hardcore child pornography on the Internet was sentenced Friday to six months in jail and up to three years of probation for having child pornography on his home computer and for possessing an assault rifle, officials said.
Walter R. Luostari, 59, of Burlison & Luostari is expected to surrender to authorities July 15 to begin his jail term and must register as a sex offender, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan also restricted Luostari’s access to the Internet and interaction with minors, and ordered the attorney to surrender all firearms and undergo one year of counseling, the spokesperson added.
Luostari entered a no contest plea to felony charges of possessing matter depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct and an Uzi assault rifle in January without reaching a negotiated settlement with prosecutors. He was arrested in October 2008 following a federal investigation that began three years earlier.
The attorney was privately disciplined, with public disclosure of the reproval, once in 1997 since earning his license to practice 20 years ago, according to the State Bar.
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