US v. Maulding, 09-3103

District court's imposition of a below-range sentence in a conviction of defendant for child pornography related crimes affirmed

US v. Maulding, 09-3103, concerned a challenge to the district court's imposition of a below-Guidelines range 240-month sentence followed by a life term of supervised release upon a defendant convicted of receipt, possession, and distribution of child pornography.

In affirming, the court held that defendant's argument, that 240 months is necessarily unreasonable because the Chapter 2 guidelines on which it is based is flawed, has already been rejected.  Here, the district court correctly calculated the guidelines range, acknowledged that the guidelines are advisory, agreed with defendant that several mitigating factors favored him, and then imposed a below-range sentence which the court deemed warranted in light of the section 3553(a) factors.

Related Link:

• Read the Seventh Circuit's Full Decision in US v. Maulding, 09-3103