United States v. Smith

Smith pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography and was sentenced to 90 months of imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release, which began in November 2017. In August 2018, Smith’s probation officer, filed a petition, stating that Smith failed to participate in sex offender treatment, failed to participate in mental health treatment, failed to comply with location monitoring, and failed to make scheduled payments of fines. The advisory Sentencing Guidelines imprisonment range was three-to-nine months with a maximum of two years. The government sought a sentence of one year and one day due to Smith’s dishonesty and refusal to cooperate. The court referenced Smith’s manipulative behavior, lies, and refusal to participate in treatment or follow the court’s orders and discussed the seriousness of the child pornography offense, Smith’s history, the need to protect the public, and the need to promote respect for the law. The court noted that “[t]his is an extraordinary case, extraordinary dissidence, extraordinary deliberate efforts to violate the Court’s order, extraordinary in [Smith’s] effort to avoid treatment.” The court gave Smith a 24‐month sentence, with no supervised release to follow. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The court gave a sufficient explanation of the factors it considered in determining the appropriate sentence and the sentence is supported by compelling justifications. Smith was manipulative, dishonest, breached the court's trust, disregarded the rule of law, and proved unwilling to seek the treatment the original sentencing court found necessary. View "United States v. Smith" on Justia Law