No trial: Sarasota runner caught in Mexico enters guilty plea in child pornography case
A Sarasota man apprehended almost two years ago by law enforcement in Mexico after being on the run since 2017 was expected to stand trial this week. He instead entered a guilty plea on Monday, according to a court spokesperson.
John Pyle, 67, was well-known in the Sarasota running community before he was arrested in 2016 and charged with 30 counts of possessing child pornography. He was also later charged with failing to appear at a hearing while on bail after he fled the country in 2017.
A spokesperson with the 12th Judicial Circuit Court confirmed Pyle entered a guilty plea Monday morning, the day his trial was expected to begin. A sentencing date will be set for the future.
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A news release confirming Pyle's "open plea" was sent out Monday afternoon from State Attorney Ed Brodsky's office. The news release stated the lowest permissible prison sentence for Pyle is more than 30 years in prison.
Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Thomas Krug does have the discretion to give Pyle a lower sentence if there is a legal basis to do so and if Krug determines appropriate. The maximum sentence Pyle could receive is life in prison. Pyle will also be designated as a sex offender as is required by Florida law.
Assistant State Attorney S. Ethan Dunn, the lead prosecutor on the case, highlighted the diligence of the Sarasota Police Department detectives and members of the fugitive task force for their efforts to bring Pyle to justice.
“Child pornography is an insidious crime that is difficult to detect and prosecute in the digital age," Dunn said. "Research shows that those who possess and view this material often have already committed physical offenses against children that have simply not been uncovered."
Dunn added that those who consume such images are perpetuating a demand and causing there to be continued sexual abuse of children.
"They can run, and they can hide, but law enforcement will find them, and they will be brought to justice," Dunn said in the news release.
Pyle, who ran 3,273 miles across the country from San Francisco to Key West in 2012 to raise support for The Wounded Warriors Project, was arrested after police said they found 31 images of child pornography, 15 images containing sexual misconduct, and two images of child pornography involving bondage on Pyle's laptop after searching his residence in June 2016, Sarasota Police Department detectives alleged in a probable cause affidavit.
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Pyle was taken to the Sarasota County Jail where he later bonded out for $90,000, according to jail records. Pyle missed a scheduled pre-trial court hearing in October 2017, and it was discovered by investigators that the Sarasota runner had boarded a Carnival Cruise Lines ship to Cozumel, Mexico, according to previous reporting.
At the time, Pyle had surrendered his passport as part of the bond but was still able to board the cruise ship, where he got off in Mexico and didn't get back on the ship.
Pyle was apprehended almost five years after he'd deboarded the cruise ship. In June 2022, SPD officials announced the runner had been arrested in Merida, Mexico, by U.S. Marshals Mexican Foreign Field Office and Mexican Immigration and was transported back to Sarasota. Pyle remained in the Sarasota County Jail since his apprehension, according to court records.
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on X: @GabrielaSzyman3.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Ex-fugitive Sarasota marathon runner John Pyle pleads guilty
