United States v. Streett
| Decision Date | 30 January 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 14-3609 JB,CR 14-3609 JB |
| Citation | 437 F.Supp.3d 940 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Bentley A. STREETT, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
John C. Anderson, United States Attorney, Nicholas Jon Ganjei, Sarah Jane Mease, Alexander Mamoru Max Uballez, Assistant United States Attorneys, United States Attorney's Office, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for the Plaintiff.
Martin Lopez, III, Martin Lopez, III, P.C., Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Harry I. Zimmerman, Harry Ira Zimmerman Attorney at Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for the Defendant.
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the United States' Sealed Motion to Add Condition of Confinement, filed December 9, 2019 (Doc. 200)("Motion"). The Court held a hearing on January 14, 2020. The primary issues are: (i) whether the Court has authority to prohibit Defendant Bentley A. Streett, who is in custody and awaiting sentencing following his conditional guilty plea, from acquiring photographs of his underaged victims, even those that are publicly available on the internet, and from contacting his victims, either directly or through third parties; and (ii) if the Court has this authority, whether the Court should issue such an order, because Streett asked an acquaintance to find and deliver to Streett photographs that one of Streett's victims, A.O., posted of herself on her social media accounts. The Court concludes that: (i) it does not have authority to issue the United States' requested order; and (ii) even if the Court did has such authority, it would decline to exercise it, because this case's Protective Order and Streett's current detention are sufficient to ensure the community's safety.
On October 2, 2014, the Honorable Karen B. Molzen, United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, issued an arrest warrant for Streett pursuant to a criminal complaint. See Arrest Warrant, filed October 2, 2014 (Doc. 2). After his arrest, Streett was detained pending trial. See Detention Order Pending Trial, filed October 6, 2014 (Doc. 8). Since his arrest, Streett has remained in the United States Marshals Service's ("USMS") custody. On December 7, 2015, the United States indicted Streett on twelve counts of sexual misconduct involving minors. See Second Superseding Indictment at 1-7, filed December 17, 2017 (Doc. 33)("Indictment"). The Court then issued a protective order that, in part, forbids Streett from contacting or attempting to contact "any potential victims in this case." Protective Order ¶ 7.c., at 2, filed May 4, 2015 (Doc. 28). On December 7, 2018, Streett entered a conditional plea agreement in which he pled guilty to the following eight Counts: (i) travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with A.O, a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b) ; (ii) inducing a minor, N.M, to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) ; (iii) inducing a minor, M.S., to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) ; (iv) attempting to induce a minor, A.O., to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) ; (v) attempting to induce a minor, J.S., to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2251(a) ; (vi) attempting to induce a minor, M.J., to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) ; (vii) distributing child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2) ; and (viii) possessing child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). See Conditional Plea Agreement ¶ 3, at 2, filed December 7, 2018 (Doc. 184). Streett conditioned his plea on the Court's rulings on his motions to suppress evidence and dismiss several counts in the Indictment. See Conditional Plea Agreement ¶ 24, at 15. The Court has since denied both of Streett's motions. See Memorandum Opinion at 1-2, filed January 15, 2020 (Doc. 206); United States v. Streett, 363 F. Supp. 3d 1212, 1214 (D.N.M. 2018) (Browning, J.). The Court is scheduled to sentence Streett on April 14, 2020. See Notice of Hearing, filed January 14, 2020 (Doc. 205).
On November 8, 2019, Streett wrote an acquaintance and asked him to find the social media profiles belonging to one of Streett's underaged victims, A.O.1 See Motion at 2. In the letter, Streett describes his encounters with a "very full figured" and "well built young woman." A.O. Motion Exhibit at 6, filed December 9, 2019 (Doc. 200-1)("Streett Letter")(emphasis in Streett Letter). Streett notes that "he would never ask anyone to contact her for me, but finding a photo from Twitter or FaceBook should be pretty easy." Streett Letter at 7. Streett provides A.O.'s social media information, birthday, hometown, telephone number, and the cross streets nearest to her home. See Streett Letter at 7. Streett then asks his acquaintance to locate A.O.'s social media profile, print a photograph of her, and mail Streett the photograph. See Streett Letter at 7. Streett further directs his acquaintance to avoid writing A.O.'s name on the photograph "or mention it anywhere," but to instead "write a letter about work ... and make up a name of a relative in the letter," and present A.O. as that relative so as to avoid the letter's confiscation. Streett Letter at 7. Streett says that he "wouldn't mind a photo of her full body if you come across one." Streett Letter at 8. Streett says that he Streett Letter at 8. Later, to assuage his acquaintance's fears about helping Streett, Streett says that he will enclose an envelope, pre-addressed to Streett from his mother. See Streett Letter at 9. Streett then purports to devise a plan that will distance the acquaintance from any liability or culpability in aiding Streett. See Streett Letter at 10. The acquaintance did not comply with Streett's request, and A.O. never learned of Streett's attempt to procure photographs from her social media accounts. See Motion ¶ 7, at 4.
The United States "requests that the Court enter an order prohibiting Defendant from possessing material depicting any of the minor victims in this matter." Motion at 6. The United States characterizes the Streett Letter as a "significant effort to covertly obtain images of A.O. as tokens before [Streett's] sentencing hearing and subsequent transfer to the Bureau of Prisons." Motion ¶ 7, at 3-4. The United States contends that the Streett Letter demonstrates that Streett is "an unapologetic predator." Motion ¶ 8, at 4. The United States argues that, while "this matter will certainly be addressed in more detail during [Streett's] sentencing hearing, of more immediate concern to the United States is the risk that Defendant may continue his efforts to exploit A.O., or other victims, by attempting to obtain images." Motion ¶ 10, at 5.
The United States asserts that, although "courts do not typically impose conditions when a defendant is confined, courts are afforded wide discretion in imposing conditions of release." Motion at 5. The United States argues that 18 U.S.C. § 3142(c)(1)(B)(xiv) allows the court to "order that a defendant ‘satisfy any other condition that is reasonably necessary to assure the appearance of the person as required and to assure the safety of any other person and the community.’ " Motion at 5-6 (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 3142(c)(1)(B)(xiv) ). The United States contends that courts in the District of New Mexico "often order[ ] special conditions of release in child exploitation offenses, including ... no contact with minors." Motion at 6 (). The United States also says that it found one instance in which a court in the District of New Mexico "added no contact with minors as a condition of confinement." Motion at 6 (citing Sealed Order Adding Condition of Confinement, United States v. Rosenschein, No. 16-cr-04571 MCA (Armijo, J.)). The United States contends that the Court should "impose conditions on Defendant's confinement" because of Streett's "continued fixation" on A.O. Motion at 6. The United States argues that Streett "would almost certainly be subject to restrictive conditions were he released to third-party custody; he should not be subject to less restrictive conditions by virtue of his incarceration." Motion at 6. Accordingly, the United States requests that the Court prohibit Streett from possessing any "material depicting any of the minor victims in this matter" as a condition of his presentence confinement. Motion at 6.
Streett responds. See Sealed Response to Government's Sealed Motion to Add Condition of Confinement at 1, filed December 24, 2019 (Doc. 203)("Response"). Streett argues that the Protective Order "addresses" the Motion. Response ¶ 2, at 1. The Protective Order, Streett notes, prohibits Streett from contacting or attempting to contact " ‘any potential victims in this case.’ " Response ¶ 2.c., at 1 (quoting Protective Order ¶ 7.c., at 2). Streett argues that he has not violated that prohibition, because neither he nor a third party acting on his behalf contacted or attempted to contact any of Streett's victims. See Response ¶ 3, at 1. Streett nonetheless avers that the Protective Order permits Streett's counsel to contact Streett's victims, provided that Streett's counsel first contacts the victims' parents or guardians. See Response ¶ 4, at 2 (citing Protective Order ¶ 7.f., at 3). Streett notes that the Crime Victims' Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3771, affords crime victims the " ‘right to be...
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