Opinion ID: 780248
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Inadequacy of the Defendant's Criminal History

Text: 62 The Sentencing Guidelines permit an upward departure, if reliable information indicates that the criminal history does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the defendant's past criminal conduct or the likelihood that the defendant will commit other crimes. U.S. SENTENCING GUIDELINES MANUAL, § 4A1.3 (2000). Section 4A1.3(e) of the Guidelines also specifies that departure may be based upon prior similar conduct not resulting in a criminal conviction. Id. § 4A1.3(e); see also United States v. Ashburn, 38 F.3d 803, 808 (5th Cir.1994) (upholding district court's upward departure of more than twice the recommended guideline range on grounds that the defendant's criminal history category significantly underrepresented the seriousness of his criminal history and the likelihood that he would commit similar crimes in the future). 63 The Pre-Sentence Report included four examples of Hefferon's alleged involvement in sexual conduct with minors. At sentencing, the government presented the testimony of a number of victims from these alleged incidents. A ten-year-old child testified that on three separate occasions Hefferon exposed himself to her when she was six. A nineteen-year-old testified that Hefferon fondled her against her will when she was fifteen. A sixteen-year-old testified that Hefferon tricked her into entering his apartment when she was six. Before she could leave the apartment, she alleged that he showed her a pornographic movie, dropped his pants, put an elephant mask around his penis, and asked her to take her pants off. 9 The district court found the testimony of the witnesses credible. It further found that this criminal behavior had persisted for a long time. Holding that the Guidelines did not fully consider his criminal history in determining the range for sentencing, it departed upward. 64 The district court did not abuse its discretion in departing upward based on the inadequacy of Hefferon's criminal history. The three incidents considered by the district court all involved young girls as the victim and the behavior attributed to Hefferon was sexual in nature. We disagree with Hefferon's assertion that these incidents are factually dissimilar to the instant incident for departure purposes.