A 45-year-old Tampa man will spend more than 27 years in federal prison after getting caught with illicit files at a halfway house and then walking away from the facility, federal authorities announced.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday handed down the sentence to Richard Plummer for the distribution and possession of child sex abuse material, along with an escape charge. Plummer pleaded guilty on May 11, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentencing.
Court records show Plummer was already serving a 10-year federal prison term handed down in 2018 for coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. By October 2025, he was serving out that sentence at the Tampa Residential Re-Entry Center when officers found a cellphone in his possession…