United States v. Dennis Michael Wilkerson

702 F. App'x 843
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 13, 2017
Docket15-14786 Non-Argument Calendar
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 702 F. App'x 843 (United States v. Dennis Michael Wilkerson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Dennis Michael Wilkerson, 702 F. App'x 843 (11th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

After a jury trial, Dennis Michael Wilkerson was convicted of two counts of attempting to induce a minor to engage in sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b), and sentenced to 210 months’ imprisonment. These convictions were based on evidence that on two occasions he negotiated with an FBI agent who was pretending to be a father to have sex with the father’s fictional daughter. Wilkerson now appeals the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions and the district court’s calculation of his sentence using the Sentencing Guidelines.

He raises four challenges: First, he argues there was insufficient evidence to establish his intent or that he took a substantial step toward the offenses. Second, he contends there was insufficient evidence to establish that he attempted to induce a minor to engage in sexual activity prohibited by Florida law. Third, he challenges the district court’s application of a two-level enhancement to his guidelines offense level for being convicted of multiple counts because, he alleges, his two putative victims were the same. Fourth, he challenges the court’s application of a five-level enhancement to his guidelines offense level for engaging in a pattern of prohibited sexual conduct because, he argues, his statute of conviction cannot be the basis for such an enhancement. 1 After careful review, we reject each of these challenges as unfounded and affirm Wilkerson’s convictions and sentence.

I. BACKGROUND

Wilkerson was indicted on two counts of attempting to induce a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity by means of interstate commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). These two counts were based on two separate interactions Wilkerson had with the same undercover agent.

First, in July 2015, Wilkerson responded by email to an advertisement by a father and daughter in Altamonte Springs, Florida looking for sexual encounters posted on the classified ad website Craigslist. The advertisement had been posted by FBI task force officer John McElyea, who was working undercover to prevent crimes against children. McElyea, posing as a 50 year old man named Bob Bjorn, replied to Wilkerson’s email and explained that he had a 12 year old daughter who was interested in men and “roses,” which McElyea later testified meant compensation. After some initial hesitancy, Wilkerson asked for a picture of the fictional minor and, when Bjorn would not provide that, her description. Wilkerson eventually asked how much it would cost to receive oral sex from the fictional minor. He then negotiated with Bjorn and agreed on a price of $40 for oral sex. Wilkerson sought to meet immediately. Although Bjorn stated he and his daughter had a prior engagement, Wilkerson reached out twice more that day attempting to set up a meeting. Wilkerson offered to pay again the following day as long as they could meet that night. Over the next two days, Wilkerson traded messages with Bjorn attempting to schedule a meeting. Ultimately, the July conversation died without a meeting after Wilkerson and Bjorn exchanged a total of 39 messages.

Several months later, in October 2015, Wilkerson responded to a nearly identical advertisement posted by McElyea on Craigslist about a father and daughter in Kissimmee, Florida looking for “roses.” *846 This time McElyea was operating under the alias James James, again a 50 year old man. Wilkerson’s initial email requested oral sex, and he persisted in this request after James clarified that his daughter was 12. Wilkerson and James traded a total of 49 messages, eventually settling on a price and arranging a meeting. When Wilkerson arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested carrying the agreed-upon money. After his arrest, Wilkerson admitted to communicating with another father back in July in an attempt to have sexual contact with that man’s 12 year old daughter.

Wilkerson went to trial before a jury. At trial, the district court took judicial notice of Florida Statutes § 800.04(4)(a), which criminalizes lewd and lascivious battery. Based on this statute, the court instructed the jury that engaging in sexual activity, which it defined to include oral sex, with a person between the ages of 12 and 16 was a crime under Florida law. The jury convicted Wilkerson on both counts.

At sentencing, the district court calculated Wilkerson’s advisory guidelines range as 210 to 262 months’ imprisonment based on an offense level of 32 and a criminal history category of I. The court arrived at this offense level by applying a two-level enhancement because Wilkerson was convicted of multiple counts and a five-level enhancement because Wilkerson engaged in a pattern of activity involving prohibited sexual conduct. Ultimately, the court sentenced Wiljterson to 210 months’ imprisonment followed by eight years of supervised release. Wilkerson filed this appeal.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

We review the sufficiency of the evidence de novo. United States v. Hunt, 187 F.3d 1269, 1270 (11th Cir. 1999). The evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if “any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). We view “the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and draw[ ] all reasonable inferences and credibility choices in favor of the jury’s verdict.” United States v. Boffil-Rivera, 607 F.3d 736, 740 (11th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks omitted).

With respect to the Sentencing Guidelines, we review “purely legal questions de novo, a district court’s factual findings for clear error, and, in most cases, a district court’s application of the guidelines to the facts with ‘due deference.’ ” United States v. Rodriguez-Lopez, 363 F.3d 1134, 1136-37 (11th Cir. 2004). When reviewing a district court’s application of a guidelines provision to the facts, “due deference” is tantamount to clear error review. See United States v. White, 335 F.3d 1314, 1318-19 (11th Cir. 2003). For a finding to be clearly erroneous, we “must be left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” Rodriguez-Lopez, 363 F.3d at 1137 (internal quotation marks omitted). Whether charges should have been grouped together for guidelines purposes is “primarily” a question of law that we review de novo, but to the extent it involves the application of the guidelines to the facts of the case, the district court’s fact findings should be reviewed with due deference. United States v. Williams, 340 F.3d 1231, 1243-44 (11th Cir. 2003).

III. DISCUSSION

A.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ball v. Office of International Affairs
District of Columbia, 2024

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
702 F. App'x 843, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dennis-michael-wilkerson-ca11-2017.