United States v. Donald Eugene Creel

783 F.3d 1357, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6517, 2015 WL 1782667
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 21, 2015
Docket14-12438
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 783 F.3d 1357 (United States v. Donald Eugene Creel) 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. Donald Eugene Creel, 783 F.3d 1357, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6517, 2015 WL 1782667 (11th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

WILLIAM PRYOR, Circuit Judge:

This appeal requires us to decide whether the definition of “[distribution” of child pornography under the Sentencing Guidelines, U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(3)(F) (Nov. 2013), includes an element of mens rea. Donald Eugene Creel pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2)(A), (b)(1), and received an enhanced sentence when the district court ruled that he “[d]istribut[ed]” child pornography, U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(3)(F), through a file sharing program on his computer. Because distribution of child pornography, id., does not require an offender to know that he made child pornography accessible to others, we affirm Creel’s sentence.

I. BACKGROUND

In Florida, Creel downloaded child pornography to his computer through an internet-based file sharing program. File sharing programs allow users “to search for files located in the shared folder that is created by the software on the computers of other users, and when found, the requesting user can download the file.” United States v. Vadnais, 667 F.3d 1206, 1208 (11th Cir.2012). “The copied file is placed in a designated sharing folder on the requesting user’s computer, where it is available for other users to download in turn.... ” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 545 U.S. 913, 921, 125 S.Ct. 2764, 2771, 162 L.Ed.2d 781 (2005).

After police in Pennsylvania downloaded child pornography from Creel’s computer through the file sharing program, a grand jury indicted Creel for one count of knowing receipt or distribution of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2)(A), (b)(1), and one count of possession of child pornography, id. §§ 2252A(a)(5)(B), (b)(2). He pleaded guilty to the first count, and the government agreed to dismiss the second count.

The presentence investigation report calculated Creel’s guideline range as 151 to 188 months of imprisonment, U.S.S.G. ch. 5, pt. A, Senténcing Table, including a two-level enhancement for “[distribution” of child pornography, id. § 2G2.2(b)(3)(F). Creel objected to the sentencing enhancement on the ground that he did not know *1359 that other users of the file sharing program could access the child pornography that he had downloaded. The probation officer responded, that, according to a police interview with Creel, Creel’s son installed the program on Creel’s computer and taught Creel how to use it, but Creel later “figured out some [o]f it” on his own. Creel told police that he searched for terms such as “lolita” and “teen,” and that the results of the search were “whatever they got that matches the search terms.” The probation officer “believe[d] this statement [was] telling as to how much [Creel] knew about the concept of file-sharing, in that [Creel] understood that files [were] being downloaded from other users.” The probation officer also “noted that[,] in [the program], the upload speeds are clearly indicated in a column adjacently located to the column that indicates download speeds.”

At Creel’s sentencing hearing, a special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified about a recorded interview between Creel and police. The special agent testified that Creel admitted that he used the program to download child pornography for a period of one-and-one-half months and that he had to reformat the hard drive on his computer and reinstall the Windows operating system “several times” because one of the files he downloaded contained á computer virus. The special agent testified that “[i]t was clear from ... listening to the audio clip that ... Creel understood that he was using a file-sharing program.”

Based on the presentence investigation report and the special agent’s testimony, the district court ruled that Creel distributed child pornography. Id. The district court found “that file sharing was used, that he knew it was being used, was accessing it.” The district court also found “that the presentence investigation report is accurate” and that, “even if knowledge was critical or dispositive, ... [Creel] indeed meets the qualifications for the two-level enhancement for distribution under 2G2.[2](b)(3)[ (F) ].” The district court varied downward from Creel’s guideline range and sentenced him to 84 months of imprisonment.

II. STANDARDS OF REVIEW

“The district court’s factual findings are reviewed for clear error, and its application of those facts to justify a sentencing enhancement is reviewed de novo.” United States v. Spriggs, 666 F.3d 1284, 1286 (11th Cir.2012). “For a factual finding to be clearly erroneous, this [C]ourt, after reviewing all of the evidence, must be left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake-has been committed.” United States v. Rodriguez-Lopez, 363 F.3d 1134, 1137 (11th Cir.2004) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The factual findings “cannot be based on speculation,” United States v. Newman, 614 F.3d 1232, 1238 (11th Cir.2010), but the district court may draw “reasonable] ... infer[ences]” from the facts in the record, United States v. Scott, 441 F.3d 1322, 1327 (11th Cir.2006).

III. DISCUSSION

Creel argues that the district court erred when it enhanced his sentence for “[distribution” of child pornography, U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(3)(F). Creel argues that the enhancement for distribution requires him to know that other users of the file sharing program could access the child pornography on his computer. He argues that there was no evidence that he had that knowledge. Creel’s arguments fail.

The commentary to section 2G2.2 of the Guidelines defines distribution as “any act, including possession with intent to distribute, production, transmission, advertise *1360 ment, and transportation, related to the transfer of material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.” Id. § 2G2.2, cmt. n. 1. The commentary also states that, “[a]ecordingly, distribution includes posting material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor on a website for public viewing but does not include the mere Solicitation of such material by a defendant.” Id.

No element of mens rea is expressed or implied by this definition. “We look to the plain language of the definition[ ] to determine [its] elements, and we presume that ... the Sentencing Commission said what [it] meant and meant what [it] said.” United States v. Smith, 775 F.3d 1262

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Bluebook (online)
783 F.3d 1357, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 6517, 2015 WL 1782667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-donald-eugene-creel-ca11-2015.