United States v. Jesse James DeMarrias, 895 F.3d 570

Background

In 2010, Jesse James DeMarrias (age 21) sexually abused a 12‑year‑old and pled guilty to sexual abuse of a minor; he was sentenced to 37 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release.
His supervised release began in 2013 and was revoked twice (2014, 2015) for violent/placement violations; each revocation led to 12 months imprisonment and 3 years supervised release.
In 2016 he admitted a third supervised‑release violation (assaulting a police officer). At an initial revocation hearing the district court announced intent to impose 24 months imprisonment and 2 years supervised release but ordered a BOP psychological exam before final sentencing.
The BOP evaluation diagnosed personality disorder with borderline antisocial features and an unspecified paraphilic disorder, found a "significant risk of recidivism" for deviant sexual behavior, and concluded his problems were pervasive and resistant to change (while noting some test results suggested exaggeration).
At the final revocation hearing the district court reviewed the report, found it "alarming," imposed 24 months imprisonment and supervised release for life. DeMarrias appealed the lifetime supervised‑release term.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court committed procedural error by failing to consider § 3553(a) or adequately explain the sentence	DeMarrias contends the court failed to consider § 3553(a) factors and inadequately explained the heightened sentence	District court stated it would consider § 3553(a) and, at final hearing, discussed offense, history, mental state, and recidivism risk	No procedural error: court was aware of § 3553(a) and provided a reasoned basis tied to the psychological report
Whether a lifetime term of supervised release is substantively reasonable	Lifetime term is excessive; the report added little new information and does not justify lifelong supervision	Lifetime term is statutorily permissible, within Guidelines range, and justified by diagnoses and high recidivism risk	Affirms: sentence within court's broad discretion and presumptively reasonable being within Guidelines
Whether the district court gave improper weight to the psychological report	Report provided limited/new data and used an "unspecified" diagnosis; reliance on it was improper for lifelong supervision	Report identified paraphilic disorder, significant recidivism risk, and resistance to change—sufficient to justify life term	Court did not abuse discretion in relying on the report to increase supervised release to life
Whether § 3553(a)(2) factors (deterrence, protection, treatment) render life supervised release unreasonable given past noncompliance	DeMarrias argued repeated violations and likely noncompliance mean supervision cannot achieve deterrence or treatment	Court considered past violations, aversion to supervision, but found supervision necessary for public protection and potential treatment; may reconsider if he reforms	Held reasonable: court reasonably weighed deterrence, protection, and treatment and imposed special conditions for mental health and sex‑offender treatment

Key Cases Cited

United States v. Johnson, 827 F.3d 740 (8th Cir. 2016) (standard of review and § 3553(a) consideration on supervised‑release revocation)
United States v. White Face, 383 F.3d 733 (8th Cir. 2004) (no mechanical recitation of § 3553(a) required)
United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (district court must adequately explain chosen sentence)
United States v. Moore, 565 F.3d 435 (8th Cir. 2009) (sufficient explanation requires a reasoned basis showing consideration of parties' arguments)
United States v. James, 792 F.3d 962 (8th Cir. 2015) (affirming life supervised release where sexual deviance and poor prognosis supported sentence)
United States v. Phillips, 785 F.3d 282 (8th Cir. 2015) (presumption of reasonableness for Guidelines‑range sentences)
United States v. Boneshirt, 662 F.3d 509 (8th Cir. 2011) (appellate deference to district court's weighing of § 3553(a) factors)
Samson v. California, 547 U.S. 843 (2006) (supervised release is a form of punishment)