U.S. v. Wilcher

In prosecution on charges of attempted enticement of minor and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity, Ct. of Appeals vacated and remanded Dist. Ct.’s sentence of 120-month term of incarceration and 10-year term of supervised release, where Dist. Ct. committed procedural error by failing to adequately explain said sentence. Record showed that Dist. Ct. discussed only seriousness of defendant’s offenses and failed to discuss defendant’s mitigation arguments. Under these circumstances, remand was required because.seriousness of offense is not proper factor to consider when determining whether to impose supervised release or length of time that supervised release should last, and record was otherwise silent as to Dist. Ct.’s explanation for instant supervised release. Moreover, record must establish that Dist. Ct. actually considered defendant’s mitigation arguments. Ct. of Appeals further held that remand applied to both term of incarceration and defendant’s supervised release.