Former youth pastor Andrew Thomas was arrested for the sexual assault of a teen girl in March of 2010. In September of 2010 federal charges were added for the sexual exploitation of minors. Now we learn that Thomas is prepared to plead guilty to the federal charges in return for favorable sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Peirson said any possible terms of an agreement would not be made public until Thomas' next court date, but according to statute, all five counts are punishable by 15-30 years each, so a minimum sentence likely would be 15 years.
Thomas still faces a state trial for his alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl.
