United States v. Quentin Nighttraveller

── United States v. Quentin Nighttraveller ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Date: June 05, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 25-1567 ___________________________ United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Quentin Joel Nighttraveller Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Western ____________ Submitted: April 15, 2026 Filed: June 5, 2026 [Unpublished] ____________ Before GRUENDER, BENTON, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Quentin Joel Nighttraveller pleaded guilty to transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a). Varying upward, the district court1 sentenced him to 168 months in prison. He appeals, 1 The Honorable Stephen J. Locher, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. arguing that the length of his sentence is substantively unreasonable and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel during sentencing. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms. Nighttraveller, a commercial truck driver, left Canada for the United States on a work trip. He brought along a 14-year-old female relative. On May 7, 2024, they stopped at a truck stop in Minnesota. That night, Nighttraveller gave her alcohol and sexually assaulted her several times. The next morning, they traveled to Iowa, eventually parking at the edge of a truck stop. That evening, Nighttraveller tried to assault her again. Resisting, she tried to call her mother on his phone, but the call disconnected. She escaped an hour later, crying, running barefoot and in pajamas from the truck into a store, a thousand miles from home. She called and talked with her mother. Nighttraveller had driven away. On the afternoon of May 9, police located him in Nebraska. After Miranda warnings, he admitted committing several types of sex acts; offering money in exchange for her silence; and struggling with her when she tried to call her mother. A sexual-assault examination found physical injuries to the victim and, on her buttocks, DNA matching Nighttraveller’s. On his phone were close-up images of her body and searches for adult pornography. The Presentence Investigation Report calculated a guideline range of 108–135 months—adjusted to 120–135 months due to the 10-year minimum sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a). The Government requested a sentence within the range. Nighttraveller sought a 120-month sentence, emphasizing that it would be in the middle of the guideline range, if not for the statutory minimum. The district court varied upward, imposing a 168-month sentence. I. This court reviews a challenge to the substantive reasonableness of a sentence under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007). A district court abuses its discretion and imposes an unreasonable sentence when it fails to consider a relevant and significant factor, gives significant -2- weight to an irrelevant or improper factor, or considers the appropriate factors but commits a clear error of judgment in weighing them. United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc). District courts must impose a sentence “sufficient, but not greater than necessary” to comply with the purposes and factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). “It w