United States v. Joseph Addison Martin

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: May 8, 2025
• Docket: 24-11277
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 24-11277 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 05/08/2025 Page: 1 of 4

[DO NOT PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 24-11277 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JOSEPH ADDISON MARTIN,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 9:23-cr-80162-AMC-1 ____________________ USCA11 Case: 24-11277 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 05/08/2025 Page: 2 of 4

2 Opinion of the Court 24-11277

Before ROSENBAUM, NEWSOM, AND ABUDU, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Joseph Martin appeals the substantive reasonableness of his 42-year sentence for a conspiracy to distribute child pornography. At sentencing, a district court must consider the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Martin argues that the district court failed to properly weigh “the need to avoid unwarranted sentence dispar- ities among defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of similar conduct.” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6). In particular, Martin asserts that the district court did not adequately consider the sentences imposed on other individuals involved in the child- exploitation enterprise, including a more culpable co-conspirator, Selwyn Rosenstein, who received only a 28-year sentence, and sev- eral mid-level managers just below Martin in the enterprise hierar- chy, who received sentences between 20 and 25 years. We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for an abuse of discretion and consider the totality of the circum- stances. United States v. Steiger, 107 F.4th 1315, 1319–21 (11th Cir. 2024) (citing Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007)). 1 We will vacate a sentence only when “we are left with the definite and firm

1 A defendant who requests a lower sentence than one that was given has pre-

served a claim for substantive unreasonableness—he need not use the term “reasonable.” Holguin-Hernandez v. United States, 589 U.S. 169, 174 (2020). At sentencing, Martin asked for a 30-year sentence, which was lower than the 42- year sentence imposed by the district court. USCA11 Case: 24-11277 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 05/08/2025 Page: 3 of 4

24-11277 Opinion of the Court 3

conviction that the district court committed a clear error of judg- ment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors by arriving at a sentence that lies outside the range of reasonable sentences dictated by the facts of the case.” United States v. Irey, 612 F.3d 1160, 1190 (11th Cir. 2010) (en banc) (citation and quotation marks omitted). “A sen- tence well below the statutory maximum indicates reasonable- ness.” United States v. Olson, 127 F.4th 1266, 1276 (11th Cir. 2025) (citation omitted). We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a 42-year sentence because Martin and his co-conspira- tors were not similarly situated. There can be no unwarranted sen- tencing disparities among codefendants who are not similarly situ- ated. United States v. Azmat, 805 F.3d 1018, 1048 (11th Cir. 2015); see also United States v. Docampo, 573 F.3d 1091, 1101 (11th Cir. 2009) (“A well-founded claim of disparity . . . assumes that apples are be- ing compared to apples.” (citation and quotation marks omitted)). Defendants convicted of more crimes or more serious offenses are not similarly situated. Azmat, 805 F.3d at 1048. While the district court did not explicitly compare Martin to his co-conspirators on the record, in explaining its sentence the court recognized that Martin engaged in uniquely aggravating con- duct that his co-conspirators did not. For example, the court acknowledged that Martin was a founder of the child-pornography website, took steps to rebuild it after it was shut down by authori- ties, and engaged in producing child pornography when he directly solicited a minor into performing degrading and painful sex acts, USCA11 Case: 24-11277 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 05/08/2025 Page: 4 of 4

4 Opinion of the Court 24-11277

which he recorded and kept. By refusing Martin’s request for a 30- year sentence, the district court implicitly determined Martin to not be similarly situated to the other co-conspirators whom the court gave lesser sentences to. Additionally, the 42-year sentence imposed is well below the statutory maximum of life imprison- ment, which further indicates its reasonableness. See Olson, 127 F.4th at 1276. AFFIRMED.