United States v. Brandon Farrell

MEMORANDUM

Defendant Brandon Gerald Farrell was convicted of interstate travel with a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and possession of child pornography. He appeals from the district court’s imposition of 96 months of imprisonment to be followed by fifteen years of supervised release. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm.

The district court did not err when it concluded that Farrell’s offense involved attempted criminal sexual abuse for the purposes of calculating the base offense level. See United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 993 (9th Cir.2008) (en banc) (standard of review). Farrell’s actions while the minor was asleep or passed out after taking medicine and a vodka drink that he gave her, as well as his actions leading up to the night in a hotel room with one bed, were sufficient to constitute attempted criminal sexual abuse. 18 U.S.C. § 2242 (2) (defining attempted criminal sexual abuse); see United States v. Fasthorse, 639 F.3d 1182, 1184-85 (9th Cir.2011); United States v. Hadley, 918 F.2d 848, 853-54 (9th Cir.1990).

The district court also did not err when it found that the foreign exchange student was a -vulnerable…