One of two Yukoners arrested and charged with possessing child pornography appeared in court this morning in the hopes he would be released by the end of the day.

Brian Nowazek pleaded guilty to the child pornography charge as well as to five other firearms charges last month.

He was in court for sentencing today, when his lawyer recommended he be given time served and released on probation.

Territorial court judge Karen Ruddy reserved her judgment until Thursday morning.

Nowazek was caught accessing child pornography on the Internet by U.S. authorities during a continent-wide wiretap operation aimed at a child-porn subscription site.

When local Mounties executed a warrant on Nowazek's house in September 2007, they found several unlicensed and illegal firearms along with the expected child pornography.

Thousands of illegal images were found on Nowazek's computer hard drive and in his DVD collection, including photos and video of adults having sex with children.

He was arrested and has remained in jail for the past 21 months.

Speaking in front of Ruddy, Crown prosecutor David McWhinnie recommended that Nowazek be given two years for the child pornography charge plus six to 12 months for the firearms offences. He asked for the relatively stiff two-year sentence because of the man's record.

Nowazek is a convicted child molester, having been found guilty of the offence in Arizona.

Several of the psychological assessments done on him have reported he is a pedophile; two say he is not.

"We have an individual who has a history of sexual interest in children," McWhinnie said.

"In the Crown's view, he is a more serious offender (than someone with no such history)."

Nowazek was classified as a "lifetime probationer" in Arizona, although that has no legal standing in Canada.

McWhinnie suggested that Nowazek be given some credit for pleading guilty, although he waited to do so until after a case similar to his was decided.

Yukoner John Cafferata was arrested at the same time as Nowazek, with the same evidence and on the same charges.

Cafferata challenged the warrant in Yukon court last year - saying the evidence from the U.S. agency was inconclusive - but lost his case.

Had Cafferata been successful, Nowazek would have made a similar challenge, his lawyer indicated today.

On top of the 30 to 36 months in prison, McWhinnie recommended Nowazek be kept on probation for the maximum of three years and barred from owning or using firearms for five to 10 years.

Defence lawyer Mike Reynolds argued his client has served his time and should be released. He said the 21 months Nowazek has already spent in jail were made particularly difficult by that fact he was threatened and attacked by other inmates and had no social life because of his age and the fact he is known as a pedophile.

From there, Reynolds went on to list a host of events and circumstances he said have contributed to his client's punishment.

First off, Nowazek lost his "retirement plan" when police confiscated two Thompson submachine guns during the raid on his house. The weapons, illegal in Canada, are collector's items, worth more than $10,000 a piece, according to Reynolds.

"They are more works of art than operational firearms," he said.

The Thompsons are in fact operational, although Nowazek says he has never fired them.

Not registering the dozen or so other guns found in Nowazek's home was "one of the stupidest things (I've) done in my life," he said through his lawyer.

Furthermore, Reynolds said, Nowazek's career as a gunsmith will be effectively ended by the inevitable ban on owning or using firearms.

Reynolds and McWhinnie disagreed on several points raised in Nowazek's pre-sentencing report, which was "not overly positive," according to Reynolds.