U.S. v. Hyatt

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Sentencing
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 21-1212
Decision Date: 
March 14, 2022
Federal District: 
N.D. Ind., S. Bend Div.
Holding: 
Vacated and remanded

Dist. Ct. erred in sentencing defendant to 293-month term of incarceration on receipt of child pornography charge, where said sentence was based, in part, on finding that defendant qualified for two-level enhancement under section 2G2.2(b)(3)(F) of USSG for distribution of child pornography. Said enhancement was based solely on fact that defendant had uploaded images of child pornography to folder in his Dropbox account but took no steps to allow any other person to gain access to said folder. As such, no “distribution” occurred for purposes of qualifying for instant enhancement, since there was no evidence indicating existence of transfer of material from defendant to another person.