Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Reggie Aligada
Assistant Federal Defender
District of Minnesota
January 18, 2011
I. Applicable Statutes:
• 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B)
• Without a prior qualifying offense: 10-year statutory maximum. 18 U.S.C. §
2252(b)(2).
• With a prior qualifying offense: 10-year mandatory minimum; 20-year
statutory maximum. 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2).
• Convictions that qualify as a prior:
• prior conviction under
• chapter 110 (sexual exploitation and other abuse of
children),
• chapter 71 (obscenity),
• chapter 109A (sexual abuse),
• chapter 117 (transportation for illegal sexual activity
and related crimes),
• section 920 of title 10 (article 120 of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice, which covers rape, sexual assault, and
other sexual misconduct),
• the laws of any State relating to aggravated sexual
abuse, sexual abuse, or abusive sexual conduct
involving a minor or ward,
• or the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale,
distribution, shipment, or transportation of child
pornography.
18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2).
Possession: 18
Distribution/Receipt: 22
Use of a computer
Number of images
• at least 300 images, but fewer than 600, increase by 4 levels; and
U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(7).
of detention for “any felony that is not otherwise a crime of violence that involves
Motions to File:
which typically means that you must review contraband images and videos on a
government computer. The statute requires that “any property or material that
constitutes child pornography (as defined by section 2256 of this title) shall
remain in the care, custody, and control of either the Government or the court.”
Guidelines, available at www.fd.org. This article should be the starting point for
VII. Restitution
Chapter 110, which covers the child pornography statutes. Courts vary widely
on how § 2259 has been applied in cases where the defendant is not accused of
known child pornography images and videos have been filing restitution
requests for large sums, often several million dollars per defendant. See Child
been subject to significant restitution litigation. While some courts have ordered
No. 09-14017-CR, 2009 WL 2827204, at *3-4 (S.D.Fla. Sept. 2, 2009), other courts
frequently settled such restitution claims for a few thousand dollars or less.
States Supreme Court. United States v. Comstock, ---U.S. ----, ----, 130 S.Ct. 1949
(2010). Defense counsel should be aware of the potential that clients may be