United States v. Montgomery, No. 19-20448 (5th Cir. 2020)
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The Fifth Circuit vacated defendant's conviction for failure to register as a sex offender in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Defendant argued that his New Jersey conviction for second degree sexual assault is a SORNA tier I offense, meaning that he was required to register for only 15 years after his release from custody in 1995 and had no obligation to register as a sex offender when he was charged with failing to do so in 2018.
The court held that because the New Jersey Supreme Court has interpreted the state crime of sexual assault in the second degree to cover conduct outside of the federal definitions given in 18 U.S.C. 2241 and 2242, defendant does not qualify as a tier III offender. Because defendant does not meet the definition of a tier III offender, he must be classified as a tier I offender. As a tier I offender, the court explained that defendant was required to register for only 15 years after his release in 1995.
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