United States v. Miller, 5:11-cr-00078

Anthony Miller was convicted in 2011 of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2250 (failure to register) and received 24 months imprisonment followed by 30 years supervised release; he began supervised release in 2012.
On April 17, 2023, a Petition charged Miller with violating the supervised-release condition prohibiting commission of another crime, alleging eight felony counts under West Virginia law for failing to register or report registration changes (WV § 15-12-8(c)).
The parties did not dispute the Government could prove the alleged violations by a preponderance and jointly recommended a Violation Grade B for Violation No. 1.
The court found Miller’s 2003 Franklin County, Ohio conviction for gross sexual imposition (Ohio Rev. Code § 2907.05(A)(4)) is the predicate offense that requires Miller to register in West Virginia and triggers lifetime registration because the victim was a minor.
The court concluded the charged conduct was not a federal SORNA offense (18 U.S.C. § 2250) because the Petition alleges only in-state conduct and Miller’s prior federal § 2250 conviction is excluded from SORNA’s covered offenses.
The court adopted the parties’ recommendation and assigned Violation Grade B to the conduct underlying Violation No. 1 and instructed that Grade B be used in computing any revocation sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Which prior conviction triggers WV registration?	Ohio gross sexual imposition (Ohio Rev. Code § 2907.05) qualifies as a predicate conviction.	Miller suggested the Ohio statute is more like WV sexual abuse in the first degree.	Court: Ohio offense is most analogous to WV sexual assault in the third degree and requires registration.
Does the alleged failure to register constitute a federal SORNA (18 U.S.C. § 2250) offense?	Government relied on state arrest allegations; did not establish interstate-travel element here.	Miller: No interstate travel alleged; his prior federal § 2250 conviction is excluded under SORNA and thus not a qualifying predicate.	Court: Conduct did not constitute a federal SORNA violation (interstate-travel requirement not met and prior federal conviction excluded).
What statute was violated by the alleged conduct?	Petition charges violations of WV § 15-12-8(c) (failure to timely register/update).	Miller acknowledged state and federal registration obligations but disputed SORNA applicability.	Court: Violation No. 1 pertains to WV § 15-12-8(c).
What Violation Grade applies for supervised-release purposes?	Both parties: Grade B (offense punishable by >1 year as a first offense under WV law).	Miller: First-offense under WV § 15-12-8(c); prior federal conviction not a WV predicate for second-offense enhancement.	Court: Affixed Violation Grade B and used it (the highest) in revocation calculations.

United States v. Spivey, 956 F.3d 212 (4th Cir. 2020) (interstate-travel element required for SORNA offenses by state registrants; federal registrants differ)
United States v. Wass, 954 F.3d 184 (4th Cir. 2020) (discussion of SORNA elements)
United States v. Holcombe, 883 F.3d 12 (2d Cir. 2018) (federal sex offenders need not travel interstate to commit a SORNA offense)