TRENTON – A Brick man pleaded guilty today to a one-count Information that charges him with producing child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced.

Christopher M. Rudow, 36, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Trenton before Chief Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr., who scheduled sentencing for May 18.

Rudow was charged in a criminal Complaint signed on Nov. 13, 2008, and surrendered to Special Agents with the FBI on Nov 14. Rudow has been detained without bail since his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Tonianne J. Bongiovanni on Nov.14.

At his plea, Rudow admitted that on various dates between November 2006 and January 2007 he used a Canon digital video camera and a PalmOne Treo cell phone camera to record a minor engaged sexually explicit conduct. Rudow admitted that on various occasions he told a 14-year-old female to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video-record of her engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

The charge of production of child pornography carries a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Brown will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Marra credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun in Newark; Police Officers with the Brick Police Department, under the direction of Chief Rick Bergquist; and Investigators with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmy Kitchen of the U.S. Attorney Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.

Defense Attorney: Andrea Bergman, Esq. Assistant Federal Public Defender