KANSAS CITY, Mo. — from www.kansascity.com – A Kansas City federal judge sentenced a Dallas millionaire to 30 months in prison Tuesday for attempting to possess Internet child pornography.

Ronald E. Elmquist, 63, previously served as chief executive officer of QualServ Corp. in North Kansas City. He also has served on the boards of directors of the Winn-Dixie and RadioShack corporations.

U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith rejected a plea from Elmquist’s lawyer, James R. Wyrsch, for probation.

“If there were no market for child pornography there would be no reason to produce and distribute it,” Smith said. “Thousands and hundreds of thousands of children, perhaps more, have been damaged, some beyond repair, because somebody wanted to view them in their most vulnerable state. So I consider this a serious offense.”

He also ordered that after Elmquist is released from prison, he must serve a year of home confinement, and for three years he must perform at least 120 hours of community service each month. Smith fined Elmquist $150,000, payable within 90 days.

Elmquist, whose net worth prosecutors estimated at more than $13 million, apologized and criticized the sexual abuse of children on the Internet.

“The remorse goes beyond belief, beyond what happened with my poor judgment,” he said.

The investigation opened in 2006 when Elmquist took his work laptop to a company technician, complaining of pop-up ads and spyware. The technician found evidence of child pornography on the computer.

Pleading for leniency, Wyrsch noted that his client had a loving family, a stellar career and served with the U.S. Army’s Special Forces during the Vietnam War. Wyrsch asked that Elmquist be allowed to perform community service at a homeless charity in Dallas.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Roseann A. Ketchmark urged the judge to consider a sentence of at least 70 months in prison.

“He should get no more consideration than any other child pornography defendant,” Ketchmark said.