Sarasota runner caught in Mexico sentenced to 15 years in prison in child pornography case

He was once a well-known runner in the Sarasota community. His 3,273-mile trek from San Fransisco to Key West in 2012 carrying an American flag to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project put him in the spotlight. And then, he ran from the law.

John Pyle, 67, bowed his head and cried in a Sarasota courtroom Friday afternoon during testimony at his sentencing hearing eight years after he was arrested and charged with 30 counts of possessing child pornography. The former runner was apprehended almost two years ago by law enforcement in Mexico after being on the run since 2017.

Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Thomas Krug sentenced Pyle to 15 years in prison, followed by 15 years of probation, a downward departure from the possible minimum sentence of 35 years. Krug also sentenced Pyle to five years in prison for failing to appear at a hearing while on bail to run concurrently to the 15-year sentence. Pyle will also register as a sex offender with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement when released.

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As per Florida law, he will be required to abide by 15 conditions as part of his probation as a sex offender, including a curfew, not being allowed to be around any minors under the age of 18 without adult supervision, and attend and successfully complete a sex offender program.

Pyle gave an allocution during the hearing, telling the judge how ashamed and remorseful he was of his actions.

"I will say in 2016, I was very much in denial of my actions," Pyle said. "I make no excuses because there aren't any. To be honest, I don't know how I ended up here."

Pyle 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.

Pyle had initially bonded out of the Sarasota County Jail for $90,000, according to jail records, before missing a scheduled pre-trial hearing in October 2017. Investigators later discovered the 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.

Assistant State Attorney Ethan Dunn said that the State asked for what it believed to be an appropriate sentence of 35 years in prison. While the judge departed, Dunn thinks the 15 years in prison, with the supervision afterwards and Pyle registering as a sex offender will "certainly protect this community."

"We truly believe in our heart of hearts that this kind of stuff deserves significant sentences because of the effects that it has on the children in our community, and they're one of our most vulnerable members of our community and one of our most precious resources," Dunn said.

“I’d also like to again thank the investigators at the Sarasota Police Department, their partners at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Marshalls Fugitive Task Force for their work in investigating Mr. Pyle and locating him so he could be held accountable for his actions," Dunn added. "Their efforts made the Court’s sentence possible and made our community safer.”

Lisa Chittaro, defense attorney representing Pyle, asked the judge to consider the downward departure based on several factors, including Pyle's need for specialized treatment related to a personality disorder, his amenability to treatment, that the offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner, and it was an isolated incident.

"Whereas we would have preferred a lower prison sentence, I appreciate the time and consideration the judge took into considering our reasons for departure and mitigation," Chittaro said.

'Self-imposed prison': Pyle gives statement during sentencing

Pyle in his allocution described how he was mortified by his actions, and how he felt remorse and shame for what he'd done.

The former runner, who had previously struggled with alcoholism and had been sober for 37 years according to testimony, said he'd been in a dark place in his life. He ended up being swept away.

He found himself in the spotlight following his run across the U.S. and it was at that time he drifted away from his support system with Alcoholics Anonymous, he said. Though he didn't turn to drinking, the pornography was its own type of addiction.

Pyle acknowledged that what he'd done wasn't a victimless crime. While he had nothing to do with the production of the images or the abuse the children picture most likely suffered, by viewing the images and possessing them, it continued to hurt the victims, Pyle said.

Despite describing himself as being a man of character, someone with a lot of discipline and never running from anything from his life, Pyle explained he felt like he had no options when his attorney at the time told him he was going to spend his life in prison. When he found himself in the position of having a free cruise, he chose to board the ship.

"I regretted it immediately," Pyle said, adding he felt he was in a self-imposed prison, constantly looking over his shoulder.

If he had to do it again, Pyle said he wouldn't.

"What I will say, a lot's been said already, I ask that you have mercy on me, your Honor, and give me another chance to be a member of society as I was before," Pyle said. "I'm not a threat to society, I never have been."

Defense attorney calls psychologist, ex-wife and former SCSO forensic unit investigator

Dr. Eddy Regnier, a licensed forensic psychologist, evaluated Pyle in March and found that Pyle had some sexual maladjustments, a loose moral compass and noticeable personality problems.

Regnier explained that personality is how people organize their worldview and are usually established during early adulthood. In Pyle's case, Regnier said he suffered from a need to be the center of attention, which played a role when Pyle suffered from a midlife crisis in his 50s. Pyle's ran across the country began to gain the attention of women who were much younger than him, the forensic psychologist explained. That attention led him to have affairs, and eventually divorce his wife of 40 years to be in a tumultuous relationship with a woman much younger than himself.

When that relationship ended, Pyle was adrift and in a dark place at which point he stumbled into child pornography, Regnier said.

In response to Regnier's assessment, Dunn pointed out that Pyle could have chosen to turn off his laptop and gone to law enforcement with what he'd found. Instead, he became obsessed, Dunn said.

No matter how bad your life is, you can't go around shooting people, Dunn said. No matter how bad your life is, you can't go around raping people, you can't go looking at child pornography.

Dunn focused part of his questioning on how the tests that were given to Pyle which Regnier used in his assessment were filled out directly by Pyle, who tended to act more charismatic to people he didn't know.

As far as Pyle's remorse, Dunn pointed out that Pyle had fled to Mexico with no plans to return, and that Pyle's remorse was that he had been caught and was now facing the consequences.

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As far as character witnesses, Chittaro called Pyle's sister, his ex-wife, a friend he'd made through alcoholics anonymous and an acquaintance who'd worked on Pyle's laptop multiple times including prior to his arrest in June 2016.

Toninne Pyle said that while she would like the judge to let her ex-husband go today, she understands that he must be punished for what he'd done wrong.

Toninne Pyle, like the others, described her ex-husband as being a good person, someone who helped others, and was a hard worker. Toninne Pyle, who'd been married to John Pyle for 40 years before their divorce in 2015, said it was about two years into their marriage that he started drinking constantly before checking into a treatment program that helped him get sober.

"He needs a second chance, he does," Toninne Pyle said.

Chittaro also called Peter Enrico, a casual acquaintance who knew Pyle from the gym and had helped Pyle by working on his phone, cloud account and laptop several times. Enrico stated he's an expert in mainframe computers, and while not an expert in Dell laptops, can still help when issues arise.

Enrico told the judge that just prior March of 2016, Pyle had sent his laptop to Enrico because it had frozen. In the week that Enrico had the laptop, he said he was able to unfreeze it and that he examined every inch of the computer, both to find the issue and out of curiosity. He told the judge he didn't find anything questionable or illegal.

When asked by Dunn what he would have done if he did find the questionable material, Enrico said he'd give Pyle a stern talk, but it appeared he most likely wouldn't have gone to the police.

In later testimony by a former Sarasota County Sheriff's investigator in the digital forensic unit who helped on the case, when Dunn asked if it would be possible to manually go through an entire laptop or phone, the forensic specialist said it would take forever.

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 runner John Pyle sentenced to 15 years in prison