Case: 19-11641 Date Filed: 02/20/2020 Page: 1 of 5
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 19-11641
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 2:10-cr-14013-JEM-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
TIMOTHY HOWARD SPRIGGS,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
________________________
(February 20, 2020)
Before WILSON, GRANT, and LUCK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Case: 19-11641 Date Filed: 02/20/2020 Page: 2 of 5
Timothy Spriggs, who was released from prison after serving 126 months
for one count of receipt of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§ 2252(a)(2), appeals the district court’s modification of his supervised release
conditions, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(2). Spriggs first argues that the district
court failed to consider the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors in accordance with
§ 3583(e). Second, Spriggs argues that the district court abused its discretion
because the § 3553(a) factors did not warrant modifying his supervised release
conditions. For the following reasons, we affirm.
In modifying conditions of supervised release, a district court is required to
consider certain § 3553(a) factors. See § 3583(e)(2). The relevant factors are:
(1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and
characteristics of the defendant;
(2) the need for the sentence imposed—
...
(B) to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct;
(C) to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant;
and
(D) to provide the defendant with needed educational or
vocational training, medical care, or other correctional
treatment in the most effective manner;
...
(4) the kinds of sentence and the sentencing range established for—
2
Case: 19-11641 Date Filed: 02/20/2020 Page: 3 of 5
(A) the applicable category of offense committed by the
applicable category of defendant as set forth in the
guidelines . . . ; or
(B) in the case of a violation of probation or supervised
release, the applicable guidelines or policy statements
issued by the Sentencing Commission . . . ;
(5) any pertinent policy statement . . . issued by the Sentencing
Commission . . . [;]
(6) the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities among
defendants with similar records who have been found guilty of
similar conduct; and
(7) the need to provide restitution to any victims of the offense.
§ 3553(a).
As an initial matter, we are precluded from reviewing any alleged errors as
to the conditions of Sex Offender Treatment, No Contact with Minors, and No
Involvement in Youth Organizations because Spriggs invited any errors as to those
conditions. See United States v. Brannan, 562 F.3d 1300, 1306 (11th Cir. 2009).
He explicitly stated that he did not object to those conditions, and his specific
arguments focused exclusively on the Computer Possession Restriction condition.
Therefore, he affirmatively waived his right to challenge on appeal any perceived
errors as to those conditions. See id. Spriggs also invited any error—and waived
any argument on appeal—as to the Data Encryption Restriction condition by
failing to mention it at all at the modification hearing. See id. That leaves the
Computer Possession Restriction condition for review.
3
Case: 19-11641 Date Filed: 02/20/2020 Page: 4 of 5
Where a defendant fails to clearly state the grounds for his objection in the
district court, we only review for plain error. United States v. Ramirez-Flores, 743
F.3d 816, 821 (11th Cir. 2014). Based on the modification-hearing transcript, we
conclude that Spriggs failed to object clearly on the basis that the district court
failed to consider the § 3553(a) factors. He merely stated that the court had
considered the factors in the prior sentencing hearings and argued, if anything, that
the factors did not support the modifications. His failure to object deprived the
court of the “opportunity to address or correct the alleged error.” See Ramirez-
Flores, 743 F.3d at 824. So, if anything, we should review for plain error. See id.
But even if we review the district court’s analysis of the § 3553(a) factors
for abuse of discretion, 1 we see no error. Under the abuse of discretion standard,
we will not reverse unless we have a definite and firm conviction that the district
court committed a clear error of judgment. Moran, 573 F.3d at 1137.
Certainly, to avoid an abuse of discretion, “[a] court must explain its
sentencing decisions adequately enough to allow for meaningful appellate review.”
United States v. Johnson, 877 F.3d 993, 997 (11th Cir. 2017) (per curiam). But
1
We generally review a district court’s decisions regarding supervised release for an abuse of
discretion. See, e.g., United States v. Cunningham, 607 F.3d 1264, 1266 (11th Cir. 2010) (per
curiam) (revocation of supervised release); United States v. Moran, 573 F.3d 1132,
1137 (11th Cir. 2009) (imposition of special conditions of supervised release); United States v.
Ridgeway, 319 F.3d 1313, 1315 (11th Cir. 2003) (per curiam) (oral imposition of condition of
supervised release). Though it seems we have not stated a standard of review for modification of
conditions of supervised release, abuse of discretion seems appropriate here too.
4
Case: 19-11641 Date Filed: 02/20/2020 Page: 5 of 5
when a statute requires a court to consider the § 3553(a) factors, the court “need
not articulate the applicability of each factor”; it is enough that the record reflects
that the court took the factors into account. Id. (internal quotation mark omitted).
Here, the record demonstrates that the district court properly considered the
relevant § 3553(a) factors. For one, the court had analyzed them in Spriggs’s prior
sentencing hearings—and Spriggs reminded the court that it had—so it knew that it
must consider them. Not only that, Spriggs also argued the factors in the
modification hearing. The district court referenced the nature and circumstances of
the sex offense; the kinds of conditions available for and imposed on sex offenders;
the need to avoid unwarranted disparities among sex offenders; and the necessity
of the modified conditions for the protection of the public and Spriggs’s treatment.
Spriggs cited a case analyzing the § 3553(a) factors. The government argued
Spriggs’s personal history and characteristics, relying on them to explain why the
modified conditions were necessary for deterrence and protection of the public. It
also explicitly and specifically argued the other applicable § 3553(a) factors. If
anything, the district court’s statement that its failure to previously impose the
additional conditions of probation was an “oversight” implies that the district court
considered the § 3553(a) factors at the modification hearing and concluded that the
modifications were appropriate. No abuse of discretion occurred here.
AFFIRMED.
5