James Richard Kremer, 40, Minot, is asking the North Dakota Supreme Court to let him withdraw his guilty plea to three counts of Class C felony possession of child pornography.

Kremer is claiming that he received inadequate representation from his defense attorney. The prosecution is arguing that he did not receive inadequate assistance of counsel and did not submit his appeal on time and Kremer should not be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on Tuesday.

According to court documents, Kremer was charged in federal court and faced a 15 year sentence. He came to an agreement with federal prosecutors, who let him plead guilty to the charges in state court, where he received the less severe sentence.

In February 2016, North Central District Court Judge Doug Mattson handed down two five-year sentences, consecutive to each other, and a suspended three-year sentence, consecutive to the first two sentences, and three years of probation. In all, Kremer will have spent roughly 10 years in prison instead of the 15 years he would have served in the federal system.

Kremer was already a convicted sex offender when he was charged with possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to Class B felony gross sexual imposition in Ward County in 1998. He was 17 when he committed that offense.