Sentencing Guidelines

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Roberto Cruz-Rivera

Case No.: 22-1325

Officials: Ripple, Scudder, and Lee, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing Guidelines

Cruz-Rivera was convicted of first-degree rape and first-degree assault in New York in 2001 after he violently attacked two women who suffered from a mild mental disability. He had stabbed both women and raped one woman. He was released from prison for those offenses in October 2015. Because of the rape conviction, he was required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), 34 U.S.C. § 20901 et seq. Between September 2017 and March 2020, Mr. Cruz-Rivera lived and worked in Indiana. During this time, he was employed by a staffing agency and worked throughout Indianapolis, including at the Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, the JW Marriott Hotel, Butler University, and an elementary school. He also was convicted of two felonies—resisting law enforcement and auto theft—in Indianapolis during that time.

Cruz-Rivera was convicted of failing to register as a sex offender, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a). The district court sentenced him to forty-one months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release. Mr. Cruz-Rivera now challenges one aspect of his sentence. He submits that the district court erred in imposing a discretionary condition of supervised release that allows a probation officer, with the assistance of law enforcement, to search his person and property upon reasonable suspicion that he has violated a condition of supervised release or has committed other unlawful conduct.

The Seventh Circuit concludes that the district court did not err in imposing the challenged supervised release condition.

Affirmed.

Decided 07/20/23

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