United States v. Stoterau

524 F.3d 988, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 9247, 2008 WL 1868997
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided April 29, 2008·No. 19-56391·Published·Cited by 322 cases

Opinion

IKUTA, Circuit Judge:

Joseph Stoterau pleaded guilty to transporting child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(l). In this appeal, he challenges several aspects of his sentence, including 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 “rentboy.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. Stoter-au 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 Customs Enforcement execut *996 ed a search warrant at Stoterau’s residence. 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 4612 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 pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(l). 1

Following Stoterau’s guilty plea, the probation office prepared a Presentence Investigation Report (“PSR”), which included the following calculation of Stoter-au’s indicated Guidelines range. First, the PSR noted that the applicable Guidelines provision for violations of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(l) 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 sexually explicit material) pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(c) because Stoterau’s offense conduct involved posing and photographing 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 person”). This cross-reference had the effect of increasing Stoterau’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 distribution” of pornographic materials. Fifth, the PSR applied a three-level downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3El.l(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.

As is customary, the PSR also provided a synopsis of Stoterau’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 Stoter-au’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 *997 of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and explained why it believed the sentence was consistent with those factors.

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

Stoterau’s appeal raises the following five general issues, which we discuss in turn: (1) whether the district court erred in imposing the two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A); (2) whether Stoterau’s overall sentence was unreasonable; (3) whether the district court abused its discretion in imposing eight special conditions on Stoterau’s five-year term of supervised release; (4) whether the district court erred in failing to rule on Stoterau’s allegation that the PSR contained unreliable hearsay; and (5) whether this disposition should be filed under seal or alternatively, whether we should identify Stoterau by a pseudonym in place of his true name.

II

Stoterau first argues that the district court erred in imposing a two-level enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A) for offenses involving “the commission of a sexual act or sexual contact.” 3 “This court reviews the district court’s interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines de novo, the district court’s application of the Sentencing Guidelines to the facts of this case for abuse of discretion, and the district court’s factual findings for clear error.” United States v. Kimbrew, 406 F.3d 1149, 1151 (9th Cir.2005).

U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b) directs the district court to apply specified enhancements for six different “[sjpecific [o]ffense [characteristics.” The specific offense characteristic at issue here is identified in U.S.S.G. § 2G2.1(b)(2)(A), which states, “[i]f thé offense involved — (A) the commission of a sexual act or sexual contact, increase by 2 levels.” Stoterau contends that he pleaded guilty only to transporting child pornography, and that the sexual contacts between Doe and the rentboy.com customers were not part of the offense to which he pleaded guilty.

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United States v. Stoterau, 524 F.3d 988, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 9247, 2008 WL 1868997 (9th Cir. 2008).

524 F.3d 988 (United States v. Stoterau) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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