United States v. Thornton

── United States v. Thornton ── Case No.: 25-2076 Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 01, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-2076 Document: 32 Date Filed: 04/01/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 1, 2026 FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 25-2076 (D.C. No. 2:21-CR-00878-KG-JFR-1) JOHN BENJAMIN THORNTON, (D. N.M.) Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before PHILLIPS, EID, and FEDERICO, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Defendant John Benjamin Thornton appeals the district court’s judgment revoking his term of supervised release. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. *After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously to honor the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. Pro. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 and Tenth Circuit Rule 32.1.  Appellate Case: 25-2076 Document: 32 Date Filed: 04/01/2026 Page: 2 I In 2023, Thornton pleaded guilty to one count of cyberstalking and eight counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce. The district court sentenced him to a term of imprisonment of 60 months, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. He appealed pro se, seeking to withdraw his guilty plea, but this court affirmed the district court’s judgment. United States v. Thornton, No. 23-2201, 2024 WL 4471085, at *1 (10th Cir. Oct. 11, 2024). Thornton completed his term of imprisonment and on March 27, 2025, he began serving his three-year term of supervised release. One condition of his supervised release required him to report to the probation office in the federal district where he was authorized to reside, within 72 hours of his release. Upon his release from the Federal Correctional Institute in Pekin, Illinois, Thornton was instructed to report to the probation office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was provided with an itinerary and a bus ticket to Albuquerque. But he did not travel to Albuquerque or report to the probation office there. Instead, he traveled to Denver, Colorado. Once he arrived in Denver, Thornton reported to the probation office in Denver. He presented them with a “request for relocation to Denver” he had drafted that contained a “protective order.” R. I at 202 (capitalization 2  Appellate Case: 25-2076 Document: 32 Date Filed: 04/01/2026 Page: 3 omitted). The “protective order” expressed his concern that Thornton was in danger from the “Surreños” and “Nuevos Mexicos” gangs after his encounters with a gang member in Otero County Prison in Chapparal, New Mexico. The order also stated that another inmate later warne