United States v. Leonard, No. 14-2646 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseLeonard started drinking and using drugs as a teenager and has eight prior convictions related to drugs and alcohol. In 2002, at age 26, Leonard was in a car accident while driving drunk. In 2003, he was again in a car accident while driving drunk. Leonard contends he sustained a traumatic brain injury from these accidents, though he has never received treatment for such an injury. Leonard continued to abuse drugs and alcohol after his accidents. In 2006, after both car accidents, Leonard began downloading child pornography and engaging in sexual contact with children. He admitted to molesting and raping a 13-year-old girl; and he allegedly molested another girl for approximately four years, beginning when she was 9 or 10 years old. A charge was pending that he had molested a 4-year-old boy. Leonard pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(2). The district court sentenced Leonard to 240 months’ imprisonment. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the sentence. The district court properly considered the section 3553(a) factors in sentencing Leonard and expressly addressed Leonard’s mitigating factors, in particular that his brain injuries may have played a role in his unlawful behavior.
Court Description: Per Curiam - Before Riley, Chief Judge, and Colloton and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. District court adequately explained its reasons for denying defendant's request for a downward variance; sentence was not substantively unreasonable.
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