United States v. Jeremy Ehlers

── United States v. Jeremy Ehlers ── Case No.: 25-10883 Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: March 09, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-10883 Document: 27-1 Date Filed: 03/09/2026 Page: 1 of 7 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-10883 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JEREMY EHLERS, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 3:24-cr-00068-MCR-1 ____________________ Before NEWSOM, BRASHER, and ED CARNES, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 25-10883 Document: 27-1 Date Filed: 03/09/2026 Page: 2 of 7 2 Opinion of the Court 25-10883 A federal grand jury indicted Jeremy Ehlers on one count of production and one count of distribution of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251(a), (e) (Count I) and 2252A(a)(2), (b)(1) (Count II). Ehlers pleaded guilty to both counts. The district court sentenced him to a total term of 600 months imprisonment. He now appeals that sentence on substantive unreasonableness grounds. We affirm. I. Ehlers consented to having a magistrate judge preside over his plea hearing, during which he was informed that on Count I he faced a statutory maximum term of 30 years imprisonment, a max- imum term of life on supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. And he was informed that on Count II he faced a statu- tory maximum term of 20 years imprisonment, supervised release for life, and up to a $250 fine. During the plea hearing Ehlers agreed that the government’s summary of the factual bases was sufficient to constitute the offenses charged in both counts of the indictment, and he pleaded guilty to both counts. A district judge later adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation that Ehlers’ guilty plea be accepted, and it was. During the sentence hearing, the district court made specific findings in calculating Ehlers’ recommended guidelines range. It found his total offense level to be 44, which the guidelines treat as 43; his criminal history category to be I; and the recommended guidelines range to be 600 months imprisonment. Neither party objected to the court’s findings. At the conclusion of the sentence USCA11 Case: 25-10883 Document: 27-1 Date Filed: 03/09/2026 Page: 3 of 7 25-10883 Opinion of the Court 3 hearing, the court imposed the recommended guidelines sentence of 600 months imprisonment. Ehlers contends that the district court abused its discretion by improperly weighing the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors related to deterrence and mitigation, rendering his sentence substantively un- reasonable. He argues that the court should have given more weight to the voluntary cessation of his offense conduct and his personal history and characteristics. We review for abuse of discretion the substantive reasona- bleness of a sentence. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). This deferential standard of review “take[s] into account the total- ity of the circumstances” and recognizes that district courts have superior “institution