United States v. Jensen, No. 15-2156 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pled guilty to receiving child pornography and was sentenced to 240 months in prison. The court concluded that the district court did not err by imposing a sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice under USSG 3C1.1 because defendant coached her daughter, the victim, and advised her daughter not to reveal defendant's involvement in the abuse; the district court did not err by denying defendant's request for an acceptance of responsibility under USSG 3E1.1 where defendant had numerous opportunities to admit her role in the abuse and accept responsibility, and lied repeatedly during those interviews; and, in imposing the statutory maximum sentence, the district court appropriately considered the relevant factors and that any error regarding the obstruction of justice enhancement or acceptance of responsibility reduction would be harmless. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Shepherd, Author, with Bright and Murphy, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. The district court did not err in imposing an enhancement for obstruction of justice under Guideline Sec. 3C1.1 where defendant instructed the victim of her boyfriend's sexual abuse not to talk about defendant's involvement in the offense; nor did the court err in denying an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction where defendant repeatedly lied to investigators and refused to admit her involvement in the offenses committed by her boyfriend; any error regarding the enhancement and the reduction were harmless in light of district court's statement that anything less than the statutory maximum would not be appropriate. Judge Bright, concurring.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.