UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. RIHANNA BUDDI - Articles

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. RIHANNA BUDDI

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Mar 2, 2026

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Conrad Benjamin Kahn, FEDERAL DEFENDER SERVICES OF EASTERN TENNESSEE, INC., Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Luke A. McLaurin, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Conrad Benjamin Kahn, FEDERAL DEFENDER SERVICES OF EASTERN TENNESSEE, INC., Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Luke A. McLaurin, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Judge(s): STRANCH, BUSH, and READLER, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Rihanna Buddi pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). In advance of sentencing, and over Buddi’s objection, the district court classified her as a Tier II sex offender under SORNA. She was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by twenty years of supervised release, which was fifteen years over the applicable advisory Guidelines range of five years flat. Because we find that Buddi is a Tier I offender under SORNA and that the district court erred procedurally in imposing her twenty-year term of supervised release, we REVERSE the district court’s ruling on Buddi’s objection regarding her SORNA classification, VACATE her supervised release sentence, and REMAND for resentencing.

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