## Facts

- Jeremy Goldberg used file-sharing software to access an online child-pornography community and, over about 18 months, downloaded hundreds of images depicting extremely young children being sexually abused.
- Goldberg also made images available to others to obtain similar images in return.
- He pleaded guilty to knowing possession of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B), which carried a statutory maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment.
- The advisory Sentencing Guidelines range was at least 63–78 months’ imprisonment (and appeared to have been calculated too low).
- The district court imposed one day of imprisonment (time served) and ten years of supervised release with intensive conditions, including psychological treatment.
- The government appealed, arguing the sentence was substantively unreasonable under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

## Issues

1. Whether a sentence of one day in custody and ten years of supervised release, despite an advisory range of at least 63–78 months for serious child-pornography possession, was substantively unreasonable under § 3553(a).
2. Whether the district court abused its discretion by relying on rehabilitation and supervised release to justify an extreme downward variance from the Guidelines.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit held the sentence was unreasonably low and an abuse of discretion.
- The court vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing.

## Legal Principles

- After *Booker*, the Sentencing Guidelines are advisory but remain the starting point; appellate review asks whether the sentence is reasonable under an abuse-of-discretion standard.
- The greater the variance from the Guideline range, the stronger and more persuasive the justification must be under the § 3553(a) factors.
- Possession and trading of child pornography is a serious offense because it fuels demand and contributes to ongoing abuse; sentencing must reflect seriousness, just punishment, respect for law, and deterrence.
- Rehabilitation and treatment are relevant, but they cannot outweigh other § 3553(a) purposes to the point of effectively eliminating imprisonment for grave conduct.
- A sentence that is an extreme outlier risks creating unwarranted disparities under § 3553(a)(6).
- Supervised release is designed to follow imprisonment; it generally cannot function as a substitute for meaningful custody where the offense and Guidelines call for substantial incarceration.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit vacated Goldberg’s one-day custodial sentence as substantively unreasonable, holding that an extreme downward variance in a serious child-pornography case required a far more compelling justification than reliance on treatment and supervised release, and remanded for resentencing consistent with § 3553(a).


United States v. Goldberg, 491 F.3d 668 (7th Cir. 2007)