United States v. Stoterau

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedApril 28, 2008
Docket07-50124
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Stoterau (United States v. Stoterau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth 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. Stoterau, (9th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  No. 07-50124 Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  D.C. No. CR-06-00190-AG JOSEPH STOTERAU, OPINION Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Andrew J. Guilford, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted March 6, 2008—Pasadena, California

Filed April 29, 2008

Before: J. Clifford Wallace, Ronald M. Gould, and Sandra S. Ikuta, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Ikuta

4607 UNITED STATES v. STOTERAU 4611

COUNSEL

Jonathan Libby, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Ange- les, California (argued); Kathryn A. Young, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, California, for the defendant- appellant.

Anne C. Gannon, Assistant United States Attorney, Santa Ana, California, for the plaintiff-appellee. 4612 UNITED STATES v. STOTERAU OPINION

IKUTA, Circuit Judge:

Joseph Stoterau pleaded guilty to transporting child por- nography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(1). In this appeal, he challenges several aspects of his sentence, includ- ing the length of his term of imprisonment and several special conditions of his supervised release. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand.

I

In December 2005, Joseph Stoterau, then 26, met John Doe at a gay and lesbian support group. Doe was 14 at the time.

In July 2006, Stoterau introduced Doe to the website “rent- boy.com.” Stoterau explained that the site was an opportunity for the two of them to make some money. Doe agreed to allow Stoterau to take nude pictures of him. Stoterau then uploaded the photos to rentboy.com and included his own cell phone number as Doe’s contact information.

When rentboy.com customers would call, Stoterau would pretend to be Doe. Stoterau would tell customers that he (Doe) would engage in whatever type of sex they wanted for $250 per hour. Stoterau would then get in contact with Doe and provide him with the customers’ details. On at least two occasions Stoterau drove Doe to locations where customers paid Doe $250 for various sex acts. After these meetings, Doe would give part of the $250 to Stoterau. Stoterau would give Doe alcoholic beverages before each meeting.

On August 4, 2006, officers from Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement executed a search warrant at Stoterau’s res- idence. During the search, officers seized Stoterau’s personal computer. A subsequent search of the hard drive revealed images depicting child pornography, that is, visual depictions UNITED STATES v. STOTERAU 4613 of a minor child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On October 30, 2006, Joseph Stoterau pleaded guilty to a one- count information charging him with transporting child por- nography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(1).1

Following Stoterau’s guilty plea, the probation office pre- pared a Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”), which included the following calculation of Stoterau’s indicated Guidelines range. First, the PSR noted that the applicable Guidelines provision for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(1) is U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2 (base offense level 22). Second, the PSR applied the cross-reference to U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1 (sexually exploiting a minor by production of sexu- ally explicit material) pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(c) because Stoterau’s offense conduct involved posing and pho- tographing Doe as he engaged in sexually explicit conduct under 18 U.S.C. § 2256 (sexually explicit conduct includes “lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any per- son”). This cross-reference had the effect of increasing Sto- terau’s base offense level from 22 (per § 2G2.2) to 32 (per § 2G2.1). Third, the PSR applied a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A) for an offense involving “the commission of a sexual act or sexual contact.” Fourth, the PSR applied a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b)(3) because Stoterau’s “offense involved distribu- tion” of pornographic materials. Fifth, the PSR applied a three-level downward adjustment for acceptance of responsi- bility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a) and (b). These computations resulted in a total offense level of 33. Stoterau’s base offense level was then combined with his criminal history category of II.2 This resulted in an indicated Guidelines range of 151-188 months. 1 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(1) punishes “[a]ny person who . . . knowingly mails, or transports or ships in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, any child pornography.” 2 In 2002, Stoterau was convicted of grand theft, in violation of Cal. Penal Code § 487(a), receiving stolen property, in violation of Cal. Penal 4614 UNITED STATES v. STOTERAU As is customary, the PSR also provided a synopsis of Sto- terau’s offense conduct. Some of the information used in this synopsis was drawn from several law enforcement reports on Stoterau’s case. In his sentencing brief, Stoterau objected to the use of this information, arguing that it was unreliable hearsay. Stoterau also argued for a “no more than 87 month sentence,” challenged the two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A), and lodged objections against several of the proposed conditions of supervised release.

The district court held Stoterau’s sentencing hearing on March 5, 2007. After hearing from the parties and consulting Stoterau’s PSR, the district court adopted the Guidelines range calculated in the PSR (151-188 months) and sentenced Stoterau to a term of imprisonment of 151 months. The court considered and rejected Stoterau’s argument that the two- level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A) was inappropriate. Additionally, as part of its sentencing decision, the district court explicitly referenced the sentencing factors of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and explained why it believed the sen- tence was consistent with those factors.

The district court also sentenced Stoterau to a five-year term of supervised release. As part of this term of supervised release, the district court imposed a number of special condi- tions. The district court did not rule on Stoterau’s contention, raised in his sentencing brief, that the PSR contained unreli- able hearsay. Stoterau timely appealed.

Stoterau’s appeal raises the following five general issues, which we discuss in turn: (1) whether the district court erred

Code § 496(a), and second degree burglary from a commercial structure, in violation of Cal. Penal Code §§ 459, 460(b). In 2003, Stoterau admitted to being under the influence of a controlled substance, in violation of Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11550(a). Although this latter case was resolved through a diversionary disposition, it nevertheless counts for purposes of a defendant’s criminal history score under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(f). UNITED STATES v. STOTERAU 4615 in imposing the two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G.

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