Ali Ahmad, a former Tupelo neurologist, pleaded guilty March 24 to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 15 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the First Circuit district attorney’s office said. Senior Circuit Court Judge Paul S. Funderburk imposed the sentence, and the office said Ahmad will not be eligible for parole and must serve the term day for day.
Federal authorities previously sentenced Ahmad on Feb. 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi after he was convicted of distribution of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi said. Chief Judge Debra M. Brown ordered 144 months of incarceration, five years of supervision and $96,100 in restitution to the victims.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the state sentence will run concurrent with the federal sentence and that Ahmad’s work visa has been revoked, so he will be deported after completing his prison terms. The district attorney’s office said Assistant District Attorney Josh Wise prosecuted the state case.
Jason D. Herring, district attorney for the First Circuit Court District, thanked the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Detective Rachel Clock for their work and said the Mississippi attorney general’s office and the Department of Homeland Security also assisted in the investigation, according to a press release from Herring’s office.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
