United States v. Joel Mayokok, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 7097

In 2013, a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tied an email address belonging to Joel Augutuk Mayokok to uploads of child pornography on Google Picasa; a warrant search found hundreds of images and videos.
Mayokok pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography (18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2)) pursuant to a plea agreement that included agreed facts and several Guideline base-level and specific enhancements; he reserved objections to two five-level enhancements the government proposed.
The Presentence Report and government urged two contested five-level enhancements: (1) distribution with expectation of receiving a thing of value (USSG § 2G2.2(b)(3)(B)); (2) 600-or-more-images enhancement (USSG § 2G2.2(b)(7)); Mayokok objected to the distribution-for-value enhancement.
At sentencing the district court applied the distribution-for-value enhancement despite the government presenting no evidence at the hearing to support that specific enhancement.
The plea agreement acknowledged a 2003 Minnesota conviction for possession of a pornographic work involving minors; the government argued that conviction triggered a 15-year mandatory minimum under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(1).
The Eighth Circuit affirmed application of the 15-year mandatory minimum but vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing without the USSG § 2G2.2(b)(3)(B) enhancement.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the five-level enhancement for distribution with expectation of receiving a thing of value (USSG § 2G2.2(b)(3)(B)) was supported by the record	Mayokok argued the record lacked proof he uploaded to a file‑sharing system or that any uploads were made with expectation of receiving pornography in return	Government argued Picasa uploads and exchanged emails supported the enhancement; PSR asserted sharing nature of Picasa justified inference	Reversed as to enhancement: government failed to meet its burden by preponderance; no evidence at sentencing that uploads were shared in a manner creating expectation of reciprocal child porn; remand for resentencing without this enhancement
Whether Mayokok’s 2003 Minnesota conviction triggers the 15‑year mandatory minimum under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(1)	Mayokok contended the state statute’s scope might encompass conduct not equivalent to federal "child pornography" and thus should not trigger the federal enhancement	Government argued the Minnesota conviction "relates to" possession/receipt/etc. of child pornography and therefore triggers the statutory mandatory minimum	Affirmed: applying the categorical approach, the court concluded Minnesota Stat. § 617.247 (as defined by § 617.246) sufficiently "relates to" federal child pornography offenses, so the 15‑year minimum applies

United States v. Martin, 757 F.3d 776 (8th Cir. 2014) (procedural error review framework for sentences)
Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (procedural-sentencing error includes miscalculation of Guidelines)
United States v. Mitchell, 825 F.3d 422 (8th Cir. 2016) (government must prove enhancements by preponderance; evidentiary hearing required when defendant disputes PSR facts)
United States v. Dolehide, 663 F.3d 343 (8th Cir. 2011) (government must show use of file-sharing programs to support sharing enhancement)
United States v. Poor Bear, 359 F.3d 1038 (8th Cir. 2004) (permissible sentencing evidence includes unobjected PSR portions, plea factual basis, and evidentiary hearing)
United States v. Sonnenberg, 556 F.3d 667 (8th Cir. 2009) (de novo review of statutory mandatory minimum application; interpretive approach to "relating to")
United States v. Knowles, 817 F.3d 1095 (8th Cir. 2016) (categorical approach applied to prior convictions under § 2252(b)(1))
United States v. Bennett, 823 F.3d 1316 (10th Cir. 2016) (state statute possession conviction related to federal child‑pornography definition)
Mathis v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 2243 (2016) (distinguishes categorical-analysis contexts; not dispositive where statute uses "relating to")
Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 504 U.S. 374 (1992) (interpretive support for broad reading of phrase "relating to")