CLICK TO READ United States v. Gilber Gonyea, Docket # 22-1722-cr, 22-1727-cr

Defendant was convicted in 2017 of one count of Receiving Child Pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2)(A) and (b)(1) and sentenced principally to 72 months’ imprisonment and a life term of supervised release.

A special condition of supervised release required Gonyea to participate in the Computer and Internet Monitoring Program (CIMP) in order to use or possess any internet capable device. In 2021, after his prison term was completed, Gonyea created two email accounts but failed to disclose them to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services as required by the terms of his supervised release. Probation officers later discovered the email addresses and seized an unauthorized cell phone from Gonyea containing at least three images of child pornography.

After Gonyea admitted to twelve supervised release violations, the District Court revoked his supervised release, and sentenced him to ten months’ imprisonment and a new life term of supervised release. Gonyea separately pleaded guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to one count of failing to register the two email addresses as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a).  He was sentenced to a 36-month term of imprisonment and a five-year term of supervised release. In both judgments, the District Court imposed a special condition of supervision forbidding Gonyea from “access[ing] the internet from any computer or internet capable device at any location unless authorized by the Court, or as directed by the U.S. Probation Office upon approval of the Court.”

Defendant challenged the total internet ban on appeal.  The Second Circuit reversed, finding that the total internet ban was substantively unreasonable.

CLICK TO READ United States v. Juan Ramon Guzman, Docket # 22-1321

In 2022, Defendant was convicted of Illegal Entry after Deportation, 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2) and sentenced to 60 months imprisonment.  The Pre-Sentence Report calculated the maximum term of imprisonment for the offense as 20 years.  His Criminal History included a conviction for Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree under New York Penal Law § 110/265.03(3).  His Guidelines range was 70-87 months imprisonment.

On appeal, he argued the use of the prior conviction was unlawful because New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022) invalidated his conviction.  The Second Circuit rejected this argument because it was not presented to the District Court.  However, the Government conceded that the maximum sentence was 10 years, not 20 years, and the Second Circuit remanded for resentencing because it is not clear from the record whether this error influenced the district court’s consideration of the seriousness of the offense in imposing the 60-month sentence.

CLICK TO READ United States v. Larry R. LaVancher, Docket # 22-1709

Defendant was convicted of Transporting Child Pornography, and sentenced to lifetime Supervised Release with special conditions that limited his internet use to one device, and only to websites approved by Probation and a total ban on all pornographic material.  The Second Circuit held that any special condition granting Probation discretion to decide whether or not to restrict a supervisee to a single internet-connected device would constitute an impermissible delegation of the court’s judicial authority.  The case was remanded for the court to make an individualized assessment on limitations of internet devices.  The Second Circuit also held that the total ban on all pornographic materials violated the First Amendment.