United States v. Cloud, No. 18-1170 (8th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor. Because defendant did not object to the fact of the tribal convictions or of any tribal arrests, or to the factual descriptions of the convictions and arrests as contained in the PSR, the court reviewed his claim for plain error. The court held that the sentence was not procedurally unreasonable and the district court did not plainly err by relying on any information that was not otherwise available to the court or to the parties. The court also held that the sentence was not substantively unreasonable where the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing an upward variance of 23 months. In this case, the district court did not give significant weight to the disparity between defendant's state and federal sentences, and properly relied on the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors.
Court Description: Kelly, Author, with Loken and Colloton, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Sentencing. As defendant did not object to the fact of his tribal court convictions or his tribal arrests, or the factual descriptions of the convictions and arrests in the PSR, his claim that the district court erred in relying on the information in determining his sentence is reviewed for plain error; the district court did not rely on any information that was not otherwise available to the court and the parties and did not commit plain error; the sentence, while an upward variance, was not substantively unreasonable; although the court mentioned the disparity between state and federal sentences for this type of crime, the court did not give it significant weight and properly relied on 3553(a) factors in setting sentence.
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