United States v. McGowan

315 F. App'x 338
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedMarch 16, 2009
DocketNo. 06-4864-cr
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 315 F. App'x 338 (United States v. McGowan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second 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. McGowan, 315 F. App'x 338 (2d Cir. 2009).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

Defendant-Appellant Michael McGowan (“McGowan”) appeals from a July 20, 2006 judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Feuerstein, J.), sentencing him principally to 240 months of imprisonment, following a guilty plea to the charge of attempted receipt of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2)(A). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts and procedural history of the case, which we reference only as necessary to explain our decision.

McGowan argues that his 240-month sentence, the statutory maximum applicable to defendants with no prior convictions relating to child pornography or abusive sexual contact involving a minor, see 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(b), and substantially higher than the 87 to 108 month Guidelines range calculated by the district court, must [340]*340be vacated. Specifically, McGowan claims that the district court (1) failed to provide adequate notice of its intent to impose a non-Guidelines sentence; (2) erred in calculating his Guidelines range under Section 2G2.2 of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, see U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2 (Nov.2003);2 (3) improperly imposed a non-Guidelines sentence without first sua sponte considering and applying potentially applicable Guideline departures; (4) inadequately justified the extent of the variance; and (5) imposed a substantively unreasonable term of imprisonment.

We review a district court’s sentencing determination for procedural and substantive reasonableness, a standard “akin to review for abuse of discretion.” United States v. Fernandez, 443 F.3d 19, 27 (2d Cir.2006). An appellate court

must first ensure that the district court committed no significant procedural error, such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory, failing to consider the [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence — including an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range.

Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 128 S.Ct. 586, 597, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007). In reviewing for substantive reasonableness, an appellate court must “take into account the totality of the circumstances, including the extent of any variance from the Guidelines range.” Id. We “may consider the extent of the deviation, but must give due deference to the district court’s decision that the § 3553(a) factors, on a whole, justify the extent of the variance.” Id.

Initially, we note that McGowan’s claim of inadequate notice is without merit. On July 14, 2006, the district court notified the parties that it was “considering a departure from the applicable [Gjuideline range based upon the Defendant’s conduct alleged in the second addendum to the Presentence Report and the post-plea conduct alleged in the third addendum to the Presentence Report.” App. 36. In light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Irizarry v. United States, — U.S. -, 128 S.Ct. 2198, 171 L.Ed.2d 28 (2008), holding that neither the Due Process Clause nor the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure require prior notice in the case of a Guidelines variance, and the fact that McGowan’s sentence was a variance, McGowan’s claim of inadequate notice fails.

McGowan next claims that the district court should not have calculated his Guidelines range under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2, but should have employed § 2G2.4 instead, since the government did not prove that McGowan attempted to receive child pornography with intent to traffic. Because he raises this argument for the first time on appeal, we review for plain error. See United States v. Gordon, 291 F.3d 181, 190-91 (2d Cir.2002) (plain error applies with full rigor where sentencing decision did not cause surprise and party had full opportunity to object). To establish plain error, a defendant must show (1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) that affects the defendant’s substantial rights; this Court may then exercise its discretion to correct the error when it “seriously affect[s] the fair[341]*341ness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). For an error to be plain, “it must, ‘at a minimum,’ be ‘clear under current law.’ ” United States v. Weintraub, 273 F.3d 139, 152 (2d Cir.2001) (quoting United States v. Feliciano, 223 F.3d 102, 115 (2d Cir.2000)); see also United States v. Zillgitt, 286 F.3d 128, 138 (2d Cir.2002) (“An error is ‘plain’ if it deviates from an established rule that is ‘clear’ or ‘obvious’ ... at the time of appellate review.”).

The Sentencing Guidelines direct a district court to employ either § 2G2.2 or § 2G2.4 for a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.2, app. A. Where, as here, the Guidelines’ Statutory Index specifies more than one offense Guideline, the court must “use the Guideline most appropriate for the offense conduct charged in the count of which the defendant was convicted.” Id. app. A (Introduction); see also id. § IB 1.2 application note 1.

Our recent decision in United States v. Irving, 554 F.3d 64 (2d Cir.2009), indicates that the district court did not err in applying § 2G2.2 rather than § 2G2.4. Construing the 1998 version of the Guidelines, this Court found that “[njothing ... in Guidelines § 2G2.2 imposed any intent-to-traffic requirement with respect to an offense of receiving such material.” Id. at 74. Similarly, nothing in the 2003 version of Guidelines § 2G2.2 imposed any intent to traffic requirement. As this Court recognized in Irving, the title of § 2G2.2 indicates its applicability to the offense of attempted receipt of child pornography: “Trafficking in Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor; Receiving, Transporting, Shipping, or Advertising Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor; Possessing Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor with Intent to Traffic.” See U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2 (emphasis added). In contrast, the 2003 version of Guidelines § 2G2.4 is captioned “Possession of Materials Depicting a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct.” See U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4 (emphasis added). Hence, there was no plain error here.

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Bluebook (online)
315 F. App'x 338, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mcgowan-ca2-2009.