Marshals fail to escort Lighthall to court

The arraignment set for former ISU student Jason Lighthall has been postponed due to some confusion.

Lighthall, 20, of Altoona, was indicted on four counts of distribution, receipt and possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and one count related to the seizure of his computer on Aug.14. He was expected to plead not guilty Wednesday, but did not make it to court.

Paul Scott, Lighthall’s attorney, said the U.S. Marshals didn’t bring Lighthall to court.

“He just wasn’t on the Marshals list for today for some reason,” Scott said.

Al Overbaugh, U.S. Attorney, said Lighthall could face up to five years in prison for possession of child pornography and 15 for receipt and distribution of the pictures.

Lighthall will appear at 11:30 a.m. Friday in federal court in Des Moines.

– Jyni Ekins