United States v. Basa

Defendant appealed her 210 month sentence after pleading guilty to sex trafficking of children. The court concluded that an enhancement under USSG 2G1.3(b)(4)(A) is applicable in this case even though defendant did not engage in a sex act with a minor because her offense involved the commission of sex acts; the district court did not engage in impermissible double-counting by applying an enhancement under USSG 2G1.3(b)(2)(B) where defendant unduly influenced two homeless runaway 15-year-old girls and threatened to throw them out on the street if they did not engage in sex acts in exchange for providing them shelter; and the district court permissibly declined to depart downward for reduced mental capacity where defendant's reduced mental capacity resulted in part from the voluntary use of illegal drugs. Accordingly, the court affirmed the sentence. View "United States v. Basa" on Justia Law