Opinion ID: 747770
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Selection of the Appropriate Sentencing Guideline

Text: 34 In § 2423(b) cases, Appendix A of the Sentencing Guidelines directs a district court to apply the most relevant of three sentencing guidelines: § 2A3.1 (criminal sexual abuse involving force), § 2A3.2 (statutory rape), or § 2A3.3 (criminal sexual abuse of a ward). Section 1B1.3 of the Guidelines further instructs courts to make this determination based upon all acts committed by the defendants and their codefendants in the commission of their criminal violations. In this case, the district court deemed § 2A3.1 most applicable because the defendants hit, threatened, and raped their victims. Defendants contend that Judge Crabb should have applied § 2A3.2 because the jury's verdict did not include a finding of any violent activity. They also argue that, at the time of the relevant travel, they did not intend to engage in such forced sexual activity. Thus, they claim, the district court should have employed the Guideline applicable to offenses that are deemed criminal only by virtue of the victims' ages. We reject these arguments and affirm the defendants' sentences as calculated by the district court. 35 We give de novo review to a district court's selection of the applicable Sentencing Guideline, but we will only disturb clearly erroneous factual findings made in the course of this selection. United States v. Wimberly, 60 F.3d 281, 287 (7th Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 744, 133 L.Ed.2d 693 (1996); United States v. Dion, 32 F.3d 1147, 1148 (7th Cir.1994). We will accept the sentencing judge's determination of relevant conduct so long as it is supported by a preponderance of the evidence and does not exhibit clear error. United States v. Townsend, 73 F.3d 747, 751-53 (7th Cir.1996). 36 Judge Crabb properly selected § 2A3.1 as the most applicable Guideline in this case. The district court was not required to select a guideline based only on the conduct comprising the § 2423(b) violation. See United States v. Matthews, 116 F.3d 305, 307 (7th Cir.1997). See also U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3, comment. (n.1) ([T]he focus is on the specific acts and omissions for which the defendant is to be held accountable in determining the applicable guideline range, rather than on whether the defendant is criminally liable for an offense as a principal, accomplice, or conspirator.). Rather, the Guidelines expressly instruct judges to consider all acts and omissions committed, aided, abetted, counseled, commanded, induced, procured, or willfully caused by the defendant ... that occurred during the commission of the offense of conviction.... U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3(a)(1)(A). It is therefore irrelevant that Thong Vang and Neng Vue might not have possessed an intent to engage in forcible sexual activity when they traveled in interstate commerce. It is enough that they eventually committed such acts during the trip. 37 Ample evidence supported the district court's finding that the defendants employed force and threats--including rape--against the victims in this case. On the first night in Des Moines, for instance, Neng Vue threatened NL with abandonment if she did not have sex with his friends. More disturbingly, that night, Vue raped KL and then carried her to another room where Thong Vang also raped her. The next morning, both Fong and Thong Vang forcibly raped KL while the other held her down; Neng Vue watched all or part of these rapes. When the group went to Stevens Point, Fong Vang left ML alone in a room with two unidentified men who both raped her. Also in Stevens Point, Neng Vue told KL that she would not get a ride home unless she had sex with Chue Her (which she did). There was simply no shortage of evidence suggesting that § 2A3.1 was the most appropriate guideline to apply, and we affirm the district court's selection.III. CONCLUSION 38 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the defendants' convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b) and sentences pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2A3.1.