from www.bostonherald.com – An unrepentant Bob Gamere pleaded guilty yesterday to federal kiddie pornography charges – but not before scoffing at a plea deal that will put the former Hub sportscaster behind bars for only five years – the mandatory minimum.

The 70-year-old Brookline resident, who used the online screen name “GreatGamere,” at first objected to the plea agreement but backed down after being told the case still could go to a jury.

Gamere, a onetime sports anchor for Channels 7 and 56 and former host of the popular “Candlepins for Cash,” could get up to 70 years in prison if a jury convicted him of one count of possession and two counts of e-mailing child pornography.

Yet Gamere appeared indignant about facing five years behind bars, saying he could have been sentenced to a year or less had he been charged in state court.

“All the average, ordinary citizens I spoke to felt it would be along the lines of the state of Massachusetts,” Gamere said of the proposed federal jail time.

The judge then said to Gamere: “(The prosecutor) says he knows of two instances where you sent child pornography to someone else. Is that true?”

After consulting with his lawyer, Gamere answered, “Yes.”

As for Gamere’s survey on the amount of time he should face behind bars, Young offered up another scenario.

“I will put this case, if you want me to, before 12 ordinary citizens,” the judge said.

Gamere said he was going along with the plea offer because his lawyers had told him the odds were “200 to 1” that a jury would find him not guilty.

Young reminded Gamere that the mandatory-minimum prison sentence for transmitting child pornography was passed by Congress.

“You are very sadly mistaken and you seem to be in denial. It’s the Congress of the United States that passed the law on mandatory-minimum sentences,” Young said.

Gamere will be sentenced Dec. 8, if U.S. District Judge William Young accepts the plea agreement. If Young rejects the deal, the case will go to trial.

Gamere is free on bail until his sentencing. Once he gets out of prison, he would be under supervised release for the rest of his life, and a probation officer would monitor his Internet use. Gamere also would have to register as a sex offender in any state where he lives or works.

Gamere left out a side door at federal court in Boston yesterday, avoiding the press.