United States v. Keith Baroun

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Keith Baroun (Baroun) pled guilty to receipt of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2). The district court sentenced Baroun to 165 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay $3,000 in restitution to “Vicky,” one of the victims depicted in the pornography he received. Baroun appeals, arguing that the district court abused its discretion by imposing a substantively unreasonable sentence, in light of his alleged vulnerability to abuse in prison; and that the district court erred in ordering restitution, given a lack of evidence showing that his offense proximately caused “Vicky’s” injuries. The Government concedes the latter point in light of our recent holding in United States v. Kennedy, 643 F.3d 1251 (9th Cir.2011), and agrees that the restitution order should be vacated and the issue remanded. We affirm with respect to Baroun’s prison sentence, and reverse and remand with respect to the restitution order.

1. Baroun challenges his prison sentence as substantively unreasonable under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. He claims that the district court failed properly to take into account his vulnerability to abuse in prison, which…