United States v. Robert Buss , 583 F. App'x 579 ( 2014 )

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 14-1913
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Robert Buss
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa - Dubuque
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Submitted: November 10, 2014
Filed: November 19, 2014
[Unpublished]
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Before RILEY, Chief Judge, BEAM and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Robert Buss challenges as unreasonable his 240-month sentence, imposed
following his guilty plea to distributing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 2252. Buss alleges that the sentence, which was actually below the calculated
Guidelines range of 292 to 365 months due to the statutory maximum, is substantively
unreasonable. Buss argues the district court1 refused to give weight to the mitigating
elements of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) unless they were "extraordinary," while not applying
the same standard to the aggravating components of § 3553(a).
We review the substantive reasonableness of Buss's sentence for an abuse of
discretion. United States v. Pappas, 715 F.3d 225, 229 (8th Cir. 2013). We must first
ensure that the district court committed no significant procedural error, and then
consider "the totality of the circumstances" in determining if an abuse of discretion
occurred. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). "A sentence within the
advisory guidelines range is presumptively reasonable on appeal." Pappas, 715 F.3d
at 230. Having thoroughly reviewed the record, we find Buss's arguments to be
without merit. The district court carefully considered the § 3553(a) factors as applied
to Buss, both mitigating and aggravating, in imposing the sentence. No abuse of
discretion has occurred, and we affirm Buss's presumptively reasonable sentence.
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1
The Honorable Linda R. Reade, Chief Judge, United States District Court for
the Northern District of Iowa.
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