David Lynn Vannelli, 39, responded to an online post by a 13-year-old Tennessee girl "offering her virginity," lying about his age and exchanging explicit messages and nude photos with her before arranging to meet at a park near her home. When FBI agents, who had taken over the girl's account with parental consent, arrested Vannelli upon his arrival in Tennessee, he faced four federal charges including sexual exploitation of a minor and interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Judge Amul Thapar wrote that the district court properly exercised "sound judicial discretion" in rejecting Vannelli's Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, which would have required a 180-month sentence. The court emphasized Vannelli's knowledge of the victim's age, the need to protect the public from someone who "would have traveled four to five hours, raped a 13 year old, taken her back to South Carolina," and concerns about sentencing disparities since similarly situated offenders received an average of 275 months in prison.
Vannelli had negotiated the plea deal with prosecutors but the Tennessee federal judge reserved decision until receiving his presentence report, which calculated a guidelines range of 324 to 405 months. After the court rejected the agreement and held the required Rule 11(c)(5) hearing, Vannelli chose to proceed to sentencing rather than withdraw his plea, ultimately receiving 252 months in prison plus lifetime supervised release.
The Sixth Circuit also rejected Vannelli's challenge to a five-level sentencing enhancement for engaging in a "pattern of activity" involving prohibited sexual conduct on separate occasions. While Vannelli argued his conduct occurred as a single event, the court found that his solicitation of nude photos on September 25, 2022, and his interstate travel two days later constituted separate occasions under the Supreme Court's test in Wooden v. United States, noting the different timing, locations, and character of the offenses.