United States v. Adams, No. 20-2531 (8th Cir. 2021)
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The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and the district court's imposition of the challenged special conditions of supervised release. However, the court remanded for the district clerk of court to amend the judgment as it relates to certain conditions of supervised release.
The court concluded that defendant's sentence is not substantively unreasonable where the district court did not abuse its discretion by giving greater weight to the aggravating factor of an intended hands-on offense than it did to the mitigating factors argued by defendant; the district court considered all relevant factors; the district court did not consider any irrelevant or improper factors; and the district court imposed a sentence only after carefully weighing all the appropriate information before it. The court also concluded that, by conditionally reserving the right to appeal "the sentence," defendant conditionally reserved the right to appeal the special conditions of supervised release. The court further concluded that, while the district court acted within its discretion when imposing the special conditions, the written judgment is not entirely consistent with the district court's oral pronouncement at sentencing. Accordingly, the court directed the district court to amend the judgment.
Court Description: [Erickson, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Colloton, Circuit Judge] Criminal case - Sentencing. The district court did not abuse its discretion by imposing an upward variance based on the aggravating circumstances of the case; by conditionally reserving the right to appeal "the sentence," defendant conditionally reserved the right to appeal the special conditions of his supervised release; while the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing special conditions in defendant's supervised release, two of the written conditions varied from the oral pronouncement at sentencing, and the matter is remanded to permit the district court to amend the written judgment consistent with this opinion. [ September 13, 2021 ]
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