Zocco sentenced to 19 years on child porn and drug charges

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Milwaukee man who police consider a person of interest in the disappearance of his girlfriend was sentenced Friday to 19 years in prison for child pornography and keeping a drug house.

A jury convicted Kris Zocco, 40, of the child porn charges in November, and he pleaded guilty to the drug charges in December.

While both sets of charges resulted from the investigation into the 2013 disappearance of Kelly Dwyer, Zocco has not been charged with any crime for her disappearance. She remains missing.

Dwyer's family and friends attended the hearing, wearing white ribbons that read "Bring KELLY Home," but said little afterward, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported (http://bit.ly/1JWelnd ).

Prosecutors sought a sentence of nearly 50 years. The mandatory minimum was three years in prison.

Judge Daniel Konkol said the state seemed to be recommending a life sentence

"He's not even charged with homicide, and this court is not sentencing him for homicide," the judge said.

Dwyer was last seen Oct. 11, 2013, on surveillance video entering Zocco's apartment. She failed to show up at work the next day. Zocco told investigators he and Dwyer had purchased and used cocaine together at his apartment the evening of Oct. 10 and that he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

Zocco's attorney said his client had no knowledge that the child porn was on the computer storage devices investigators seized while investigating Dwyer's disappearance. The defense argued that because Zocco worked in information technology, he had lots of extra digital storage devices around from his work servicing other people's computers.

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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com