Ryan Neal Montgomery was charged with conspiracy to advertise child pornography after law enforcement executed a search warrant at his Missouri residence on October 28, 2020, seizing electronic devices containing child pornography. Montgomery admitted he had posted child pornography online and served as a moderator on a child pornography website. The warrant authorized the search to be conducted "in the daytime 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m."
Chief Judge Steven Colloton found that the district court properly credited five government witnesses over three defense witnesses regarding the timing of the search. "The district court found the testimony of law enforcement witnesses 'credible in all aspects,'" Colloton wrote, noting that Montgomery's family members appeared to have "align[ed] versions of events" through pre-hearing discussions and made factual errors that "further undermined their credibility."
Montgomery had moved to suppress evidence seized during the home search, arguing it violated the Fourth Amendment and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41 because it occurred before 6:00 a.m. The district court held a suppression hearing where FBI agents testified the search began after 6:00 a.m., while Montgomery's father, mother and sister testified it began earlier. After the court denied his motion, Montgomery entered a conditional guilty plea reserving his right to appeal and was sentenced to 255 months in prison.
The ruling reinforces that credibility determinations are "the province of the trial court" and will rarely be overturned on appeal absent clear error. The decision demonstrates how courts will scrutinize witness testimony for consistency and potential bias, particularly when family members provide contradictory accounts to law enforcement witnesses in suppression hearings.