09-2336 U.S. v. Pape

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Sentencing
Child pornography

A sentencing court need not consider evidence of differences in the length of sentences in different districts.

"We have recently held, citing observations made by the Supreme Court in Gall, that a district court judge necessarily considers unwarranted disparities among defendants when it decides to impose a within-Guidelines sentence. See Bartlett, 567 F.3d at 908 (citing Gall, 552 U.S. at 54). Likewise, in its Statement of Reasons, the district court acknowledged its responsibility pursuant to § 3553(a)(6) to avoid unwarranted disparities among similarly situated offenders. Moreover, Pape presented no analysis to explain the disparities-perhaps the differences were justified because of differences in the types of charges or other differences among defendants. Without more, Pape's argument lacks substance. As we have highlighted, only unwarranted disparities are impermissible in sentencing. See United States v. Statham, 581 F.3d 548, 556 (7th Cir. 2009). Here, where the district court applied a slightly below-Guidelines sentence and specifically noted that it imposed a sentence to achieve parity with similarly situated offenders, it did not err by declining to address in depth Pape's argument regarding the differences in sentences."

Affirmed.

09-2336 U.S. v. Pape

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Cudahy, J.

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