A former federal probation officer from Water Valley who was arrested in April for possessing child pornography pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Federal Courthouse in Oxford.

Lonnie Everill, 44, was arrested on April 16 and charged by the FBI with one count of possessing child porn and one count of distributing child porn.

On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly receiving a visual depiction that has been shipped or transported in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, and the depiction involved the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

In exchange for his plea, the distribution of child porn charge was dropped.

During the investigation, the FBI was able to obtain 573 media files with 38 files of suspected child porn, some involving children under 12 years old.

Everill faces five to 20 years in prison with no parole. Federal Judge Daniel P. Jordan accepted Everill’s plea and set his sentencing hearing for 1 p.m. on April 25. A sentencing report will be compiled before his hearing by a probation officer, detailing his criminal history, personal background, and the circumstances of the offense to help the judge decide on an appropriate sentence.

Everill is being held on no bond in the Panola County Jail in solitary confinement for his safety since he was a probation officer. However, Everill’s attorney Robert Davis, filed a motion asking the court to allow Everill to be released from jail pending his sentencing hearing.

Everill took the stand Tuesday and told the judge he wanted to be released because he wanted to help his wife in preparations of his future jail sentence. He also said if he couldn’t go home, he wanted to go to Pine Grove Mental Heath facility in Hattiesburg for counseling for his “sex addiction.”

He also told the court he should be released because conditions at the jail were affecting his health and mental well-being. He said he is confined to his cell and only gets out once every two weeks or so to go outside and for visits where he can visit with people behind glass.

Jordan denied the motion but did tell the Assistant U.S. Attorney Parker King and Davis to meet and come up with guidelines to present to the jail to ensure Everill is allowed to go outside for an hour at least once a week.