United States v. Accardi, No. 09-3091 (D.C. Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pled guilty to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. On appeal, defendant challenged the duration and conditions of his supervised release. As a threshold matter, the court rejected the government's contention that defendant waived any appeal of the length and conditions of his supervised sentence or "invit[ed]" the alleged error. The court disagreed with defendant's contention that his offenses did not fall within U.S.S.G. 5D1.2 because they were not "perpetrated against a minor." The court found that the district court's reasons for imposing a 40-year sentence to be apparent from the record and rejected defendant's claim that the district court failed to adequately explain his sentence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 3553(c). In light of the particular factual circumstances of the case and the caselaw approving similar sentences, the court found that the district court did not substantively err in ordering a 40-year term of supervised release. The court further held that the district court did not plainly err in imposing any of the challenged conditions, though the court subjected the prohibition on patronizing any place where pornography was available to a limiting construction to prevent it from being impermissibly vague. Finally, the district court held that defendant was not denied effective assistance of counsel where counsel made strategic choices in representing defendant. Accordingly, the judgment was affirmed.
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