Judge grants Army sergeant first class bond in child porn case

A federal judge granted Sgt. First Class Michael Hall a $25,000 bond Thursday morning.

Hall has been charged with possession of child pornography,

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Castaneda said he considered Wednesday’s testimony and determined that Hall is not a flight risk and does not pose a threat.

Castaneda also acknowledged that Hall has spent a third of his life defending his country.

Hall must come up with $2,500 for bail.

Terms of his bond are:

Must appear in court as required.
Must get a land line.
Can’t leave El paso. Cannot associated with anybody connected to the case. No weapons. Will have to have his mental health evaluated.
Restricted on computers use; he can only use it for school purposes. No Internet. He will be under the restrictions of a sex offender — can’t go near schools or associate with people younger than 18.
Hall’s wife must sign letter agreeing to have all weapons removed from their home — knives machetes, grenades.

Hall had his federal arraignment hearing Wednesday morning with the judge announcing his decision on bond Thursday morning.

Hall was arrested last week by special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

HSI Special Agent Joshua Conrad testified on Wednesday that he and other agents had served a search warrant at Hall’s home last week and talked to Hall before taking him into custody.

Conrad, who is part of HSI’s cyber crimes group, discovered an IP address with Hall’s name downloading and sharing child pornography in July 2014.

After searching further they found several additional addresses where Hall allegedly downloaded more child pornography.

While Conrad and HSI executed the search warrant Conrad talked to the defendant and even told Conrad he was free to leave at any time.

Conrad then said on the stand that HSI agents found two laptops with several videos and images containing child pornography at Hall’s house.

It was at that time that Conrad says that Hall told him “I think I’d like an attorney”

Conrad said Hall told agents he had smuggled a live grenade home after one of his deployments, saying he kept a grenade in case the country went south and he would use it against enemies.

Defense attorney Randolph Ortega told the judge Hall had been deployed ten times – seven of them into combat zones.

During the interview while Hall was in custody, Conrad allowed Hall to talk to his wife by cell phone and listened in on the conversation via speaker phone.

Conrad heard Hall tell his wife he downloaded stuff he was not supposed to, adding “I stepped on my (genitalia) and have to man up.”

While talking to the agents Hall told them he would use the grenade against zombies and then go to his neighbors’ homes.

Agents asked if he would go to his neighbors’ homes to steal their food and Hall told them “no, to eat them.”

Conrad went on to testify that Hall’s behavior was unusual and he felt Hall was unstable. Conrad said Hall’s Fort Bliss supervisor had told them they had problems with him and were in the process of having him removed from the Army.

Ortega asked U.S. District Court Judge Robert Castaneda to give Hall a signature bond, saying anything less is unjust and punitive, adding it’s amazing that anyone thought his client is a danger.

The U.S. attorney prosecuting the case then went on to thank Hall for his service to the country but said to get a bond for his service to his country is ludicrous, saying Hall had exhibited unusual behavior and even had a grenade in a house with his 8-year-old stepson inside.

The U.S. attorney added that Hall is a danger to the community.

Ortega told ABC-7 on Wednesday he was saddened by the charges and hopeful for bond and a positive outcome.

Editor’s Note: Hall’s booking photo has not been released because it is ICE policy not to release mugshots of those in ICE custody.