U.S. v. Starko

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to 360-month term of incarceration on two counts of production of child pornography involving five-year-old girl. While defendant argued that Dist. Ct. had failed to address his argument that lower sentence was mandated in light of fact that he was mentally ill, record demonstrated that Dist. Ct. adequately addressed said argument, where Dist. Ct. directly questioned defendant about his mental health history and specifically noted that it had difficult time accepting defendant’s argument that placed blame for his actions on type of medication he was taking and medication he had not taken. Moreover, record supported Dist. Ct.’s finding that there was lack of causal connection between defendant’s misconduct and his mental condition.