Former BFD captain faces 16 years in jail for pornography

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Donald Jervis, a former Bloomfield fire captain, pleaded “no contest” in a Wisconsin courtroom Thursday, April 6, to four charges of child pronography and is expected to receive a prison sentence of 16 years next month.

Jervis, 53, who retired from the Bloomfield Fire Department in August 2015 and moved to Kenosha, WI., was facing 21 charges of child pornography and a possible 90-year sentence. He was arrested October 2016.

The court dismissed 17 counts against Jervis. He pleaded no contest to two counts of child exploitation, a Class C felony, and two counts of possession of child pornography, a Class D felony. The classifications are for Wisconsin felonies.
Kenosha County, WI., Prosecutor Thomas Binger said a no contest plea does not admit to committing a crime but acknowledges that the state could prove otherwise.

“My understanding why he pleaded no contest was that the federal government could prosecute him with a guilty plea,” Binger said in a telephone interview. “His attorney didn’t want to make him more vulnerable.”

According to the Cornell University Law School website, under federal guidelines, a Felony Class C carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a Felony Class D carries a minimum sentence of five years.

When arrested at his home in Kenosha, Jervis had admitted to viewing, collecting, and distributing child pornography for about five years. He said there were about 100 child pornography images and approximately 10 child pornography recordings on a Dell laptop that only he used. After the arrest, he was held on a bond of $100,000 cash.

Authorities began their investigation after Jervis attempted to send pornographic images and videos to a girlfriend. He said he was doing this for “shock value.” He admitted to trying to transmit these images on or between May 27, 2016, and June 3, 2016. When he made the attempt, his computer shut down, leading to the investigation.

Binger said a Felony Class C carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
“There’s a presumption of at least a five-year sentence,” he said. “A Felony Class D has a maximum of 25 years in prison and a presumption of at least three years.”
Binger said his position is that Jervis should serve consecutive terms.
“I’m recommending 16 years,” he said. “That’s the minimum.”

Once released, Jervis will have extended supervision. Binger said the supervision is for the length of time equal to all maximum sentences minus time served. For Jervis, if the court agrees with Binger, that would be 90 years minus 16 years. Jervis has already spent 166 days in jail.

Binger did not think that Jervis would qualify for probation and would recommend that he serve every day.

“We have two programs for early release,” he said. “One is for drug offenders. The other is a boot camp program. Someone could get some time cut off but it’s unlikely. The court determines if someone is eligible and the court doesn’t do that often.”

He said the success rate of the boot camp program is not good. Binger said he did not know where Jervis would be incarcerated. That would be determined by the Department of Corrections.

John Anthony Ward, who represented Jervis, could not be reached for comment.

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