United States v. Russell, No. 22-1817 (7th Cir. 2023)
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Russell was convicted of distributing heroin and fentanyl, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), and received a below-Guidelines sentence of 96 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Russell challenged one special condition of his supervised release: that he undergo a sex-offender evaluation to determine whether sex-offender treatment is necessary. In imposing the condition, the district court relied on facts from a police report, summarized in the PSR–that Russell had been convicted in 2010 of an offense that involved the sexual assault of a girl who became his stepdaughter. Russell furnished no evidence to call the PSR into question, stressing only that his “sexual assault case” was only a misdemeanor, not a felony. He expressed concern that imposing the condition could cause problems for him in prison. The court found the facts in the PSR quite detailed for the type of offense and age of the victim and credible. The court explained that if treatment were recommended following the assessment and Russell objected, the court would then decide if treatment was necessary.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The condition does not delegate judicial authority to anyone and vests final decision-making with the judge alone. It was narrowly tailored and promoted the goals of the Sentencing Guidelines.
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