United States v. Waller, No. 12-1036 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly transmitting in interstate commerce, via the Internet, a communication containing a threat to injure the person of another. The district court sentenced defendant to 60 months' imprisonment, applying a vulnerable victim enhancement under U.S.S.G. 3A1.1(b)(1) and varying upwards under 18 U.S.C. 3533(a) after considering defendant's culpability in the alleged murder of his wife. On appeal, defendant challenged his sentence. The court held that it need not determine whether the district court procedurally erred in applying the vulnerable-victim enhancement because any such error would be harmless; the district court did not err in finding that defendant murdered his missing wife and that the alleged murder was inextricably intertwined with the threatening communication at issue; the district court did not err in varying upward based on a finding that defendant murdered his wife; and defendant's sentence was substantively reasonable.
Court Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. Any error in imposing a vulnerable victim enhancement was harmless as the court stated it would have imposed the same sentence without the enhancement; under the facts, the district court did not err in finding, by a preponderance of the evidence, that defendant murdered his missing wife and that the alleged murder was inextricably intertwined with the threatening communication charged in this case; court did not err, plainly or otherwise, in varying upward based on its finding defendant murdered his wife; sentence was substantively reasonable. [ August 23, 2012
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