(COLDWATER) – Sentence has been given to a Coldwater man after a plea agreement was reached on charges of child pornography.

Branch County Prosecutor Zach Stempien says 43 year old Christopher Howell has been sentenced to between 2 and 10 years in prison as part of the plea deal. In addition, he must also register as a sex offender.

Howell was arrested in November 2024 on three counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive material, and one charge of using a computer to commit a crime.

The arrest followed an investigation that started in April 2024, after a USB drive was found in Howell’s belongings that contained the material.

A probable cause affidavit says numerous apparent child sexually abusive material images and videos were located on the root folder of the USB drive by the State of Michigan’s Cyber Crimes Unit and that there were about 426 files containing the suspected material on the USB.