United States Ninth Circuit

In a defendant's conviction for coercion and enticement of a minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 2422(b), district court's imposition of an above-Guidelines sentence of 480 months is vacated and remanded for resentencing where: 1) the district court's application of the "vulnerable victim" provision of section 3A1.1 was improper, as the court did not distinguish the minor victim from the typical victim of the offense of conviction, but instead, the court compared her to minors in the general population; and 2) the district court erred in applying section 4B1.5(a) because defendant's juvenile adjudication does not constitute a "sex offense conviction."

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/12/2012
• Published 09/12/2012

Judges

• Tashima

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel