United States v. Englehart

22 F. 4th 1197
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 14, 2022
Docket21-8007
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 22 F. 4th 1197 (United States v. Englehart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Englehart, 22 F. 4th 1197 (10th Cir. 2022).

Opinion

Appellate Case: 21-8007 Document: 010110632142 Date Filed: 01/14/2022 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS January 14, 2022

Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v. No. 21-8007

MONTY ENGLEHART,

Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming (D.C. No. 2:12-CR-00026-ABJ-1) _________________________________

Eric K. Klein, Johnson & Klein, PLLC, Boulder, Colorado, for Defendant - Appellant.

Timothy J. Forwood, Assistant United States Attorney (L. Robert Murray, Acting United States Attorney with him on the brief), Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Plaintiff - Appellee. _________________________________

Before HOLMES, KELLY, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

MATHESON, Circuit Judge. _________________________________

Monty Englehart pled guilty to failure to register as a sex offender under the

Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) and was sentenced to

time served and five years of supervised release. The conditions of his supervised

release prohibited him from viewing sexually explicit materials. Appellate Case: 21-8007 Document: 010110632142 Date Filed: 01/14/2022 Page: 2

Mr. Englehart violated the conditions of his supervised release on three

occasions by viewing legal, adult pornography. After a hearing, the district court

amended the sexual material restriction and added additional conditions to Mr.

Englehart’s supervised release, including (1) psychosexual evaluation and treatment

and (2) mental health treatment.

Mr. Englehart argues the district court failed to make particularized findings of

compelling circumstances to justify the revised Sexual Material Prohibition and

failed to give even a generalized statement of reasons to justify the Mental Health

Condition. We agree, vacate those conditions, and remand for further proceedings.

But we affirm the Psychosexual Evaluation and Treatment Condition because the

district court provided an adequate generalized statement of reasons and did not

improperly delegate sentencing authority to Mr. Englehart’s probation officer.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Illinois State Court History

In 1998, Mr. Englehart was convicted of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse in

Illinois state court (the “1998 Conviction”). The victim was H.W., a 15-year-old girl.

As a result of this conviction, Mr. Englehart was required to register as a sex

offender.

In 2009, after two children under the age of 13 accused him of sexually

abusing them between 2007 and 2008, Mr. Englehart was again charged in Illinois

state court for sex crimes and possession of child pornography (the “2009 Charges”).

He fled the jurisdiction before he could be arrested on those charges.

2 Appellate Case: 21-8007 Document: 010110632142 Date Filed: 01/14/2022 Page: 3

While Mr. Englehart was a fugitive, he was featured on the television show

“America’s Most Wanted.” C.M., a viewer of the program, recognized Mr. Englehart

and called in, stating that Mr. Englehart had abused her in 1999 or 2000, when she

was 11 years old. In a 2012 interview, she told an Illinois State Police investigator

that Mr. Englehart had touched her inappropriately when he was her mother’s live-in

boyfriend.1

In 2011, U.S. Marshals arrested Mr. Englehart in Wyoming, where he was

living under an assumed name. Investigators found child pornography on a laptop in

his home when he was arrested. He was extradited to Illinois to stand trial on the

2009 Charges.

In Illinois court, Mr. Englehart was found unfit to stand trial on the 2009

Charges after a doctor who examined him reported that he was exhibiting behavioral

symptoms of mental illness. ROA, Vol. 2 at 96. During the fitness proceedings, Mr.

Englehart attempted to escape from custody and was charged with Felon Probationer

Escape. He was found guilty of that charge after a jury trial in 2015.

In July 2016, Mr. Englehart finally went to trial on the 2009 Charges.2 The

jury could not reach a verdict, and the court declared a mistrial. The 2009 Charges

1 Although Mr. Englehart was charged for Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse based on this report, the charge was dismissed in 2013. The record does not specify the grounds for dismissal. 2 The record does not disclose what happened between the fitness determination and trial. Presumably, the Illinois court eventually found Mr. 3 Appellate Case: 21-8007 Document: 010110632142 Date Filed: 01/14/2022 Page: 4

were later dismissed in exchange for Mr. Englehart’s agreement to plead guilty to a

separate state charge of failure to register as a sex offender. He was released from

Illinois prison and transferred to federal custody in the District of Wyoming in 2018.

B. Wyoming Federal District Court History

Indictment, Plea, and Sentencing

While Mr. Englehart’s case was proceeding in Illinois state court, a federal

grand jury in the District of Wyoming indicted him in 2012 for failing to register as a

sex offender under SORNA, possession of child pornography, and Social Security

fraud. After he was transferred back to Wyoming, Mr. Englehart entered a plea

agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to the SORNA charge and the

Government agreed to dismiss the child pornography and Social Security fraud

charges.

In January 2019, the district court sentenced him to time served and five years

of supervised release. It imposed special conditions of supervised release, which, as

relevant here:

(1) Prohibited Mr. Englehart from possessing, sending, or receiving “any pornographic, sexually oriented, or sexually stimulating visual, auditory, telephonic or electronic signs, signals or sounds from any source.” ROA, Vol. 1 at 36.

(2) Required him to participate in and successfully complete sex offender treatment. Id.

Englehart fit to stand trial. C.M. testified at Mr. Englehart’s trial on the 2009 Charges.

4 Appellate Case: 21-8007 Document: 010110632142 Date Filed: 01/14/2022 Page: 5

(3) Prohibited him from associating with children under the age of 18. Id.

Supervised Release Violations

In October 2020, the Government petitioned the court to modify Mr.

Englehart’s supervised release conditions (the “Modification Petition”). Mr.

Englehart’s probation officer, Tracy Morton, alleged that Mr. Englehart had advised

him of four violations of the conditions:

(1) “On April 9, 2019, the defendant advised a female brought a hand-held device to his residence and on the device was a pornographic video that was shown to him.” ROA, Vol. 1 at 44.

(2) “On December 4, 2019, the defendant advised that a male neighbor came across the hallway to his residence with a hand-held device and showed the defendant a pornographic video.” Id. at 45.

(3) “On April 15, 2020, the defendant advised he was hanging out with a female friend, Kimmy, who requested the defendant walk her 4 year old daughter to the local park. The defendant advised he began to walk the minor to the park and remembered he must be in the presence of an adult. He advised he immediately called the minor’s mother and she joined them.” Id. The probation officer confirmed that Mr. Englehart had disclosed his background to the child’s mother. Id.

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22 F. 4th 1197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-englehart-ca10-2022.