Free Sentencing Memorandum - District Court of California - California

Case 5:07-cr-00613-JF

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Filed 06/30/2008

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JOSEPH P. RUSSONIELLO (CASBN 44332) United States Attorney BRIAN J. STRETCH (CASBN 163973) Chief, Criminal Division JOSEPH A. FAZIOLI (ILSBN 6273413) Assistant United States Attorney 150 Almaden Boulevard, Suite 900 San Jose, California 95113 Telephone: (408) 535-5061 Facsimile: (408) 535-5081 E-Mail: [email protected] Attorneys for the United States

9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 SAN JOSE DIVISION 13 14 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 15 Plaintiff, 16 v. 17 CHRISTOPHER BURT WILTSEE, 18 Defendant. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. CR No. 07-00613 JF UNITED STATES' SENTENCING MEMORANDUM SENTENCING DATE: July 2, 2008

The United States of America hereby submits its sentencing memorandum in the abovecaptioned case. On March 19, 2008, the defendant pled guilty to an indictment charging him with single count of Possession of Matters Containing Any Visual Depiction of a Minor Engaging in Sexually Explicit Conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). The Probation Department's calculation of the Guidelines results in an adjusted total offense level of 28 and criminal history category I. The sentencing range for imprisonment is 78 to 97 months. The Probation Department recommends that the Court impose a prison term of 84 months along with other enumerated conditions, including a $25,000 fine and an 84 month term of supervised release. The defendant has recommended that he receive a sentence of 36 months. The United

Case 5:07-cr-00613-JF

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States has reviewed the final pre-sentence report (PSR) and has no objection to the factual information contained therein. The United States disagrees with the defendant's sentencing position, and respectfully recommends that this Court impose a significant sentence of imprisonment for the defendant's conduct along with the other enumerated conditions recommended by the Probation Department. DISCUSSION A. A Substantial Sentence of Imprisonment for the Defendant is Reasonable and Appropriate Defendant's criminal conduct merits a substantial sentence of imprisonment. The Government is required to advocate for a sentence within the applicable Guidelines range, which would constitute a substantial sentence of imprisonment. Under the circumstances of this case, a low end Guidelines sentence of 78 months would appear to be an appropriate sentence in this case. However, the Probation Department's recommendation - 84 months - would also constitute a substantial sentence of imprisonment. Defendant's criminal conduct merits a significant prison term Specifically, defendant illegally downloaded and possessed child pornography onto a government computer while employed at NASA. Sentencing the defendant to a substantial prison term would comply with the purposes set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2), as required by 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). First, a substantial sentence of imprisonment would reflect the seriousness of the defendant's offense, possessing child pornography, and provide adequate punishment for this offense. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A). Second, a substantial sentence of imprisonment would serve afford adequate deterrence of further criminal conduct­both for the defendant and the public, as 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(B) requires. Furthermore, a substantial sentence of imprisonment would serve to protect the public from further criminal conduct by the defendant. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(C). Given the aforementioned factors, a substantial term of imprisonment is a reasonable and appropriate sanction for the defendant's conduct.1 //

The Government also concurs with the Probation Officer's recommendation that the defendant should be required to pay a $25,000 fine. 2

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Case 5:07-cr-00613-JF

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 DATED: June 30, 2008

CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the United States respectfully requests that the Court sentence the defendant to a substantial term of imprisonment, a $25,000 fine, along with imposing the other terms and conditions enumerated by the Probation Department.

Respectfully submitted, JOSEPH P. RUSSONIELLO United States Attorney

/s/ JOSEPH A. FAZIOLI Assistant U.S. Attorney

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