Courier Staff

and The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS -- A federal appeals court has upheld the 17 1/2-year prison sentence of a Tipton man accused of arranging sex for money with a minor.

Richard Lavern Fleming, 44, caught the attention of detectives with the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office when he solicited an undercover deputy posing as a teenage girl in an Internet chat room.

The investigation that followed found he paid a 17-year-old girl to have sex with him on at least three occasions.

On Tuesday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the U.S. District Court didn't err when it enhanced Fleming's sentence.

He was charged with enticing a minor to engage in prostitution. Court records said Fleming arranged sex for money with a 17-year-old girl he met online in 2006. He also offered money over the Internet to the undercover deputy.

The district court had enhanced the sentence after finding that Fleming obstructed justice. The court said Fleming delivered false testimony at his sentencing hearing when he denied attempting to recruit a fellow inmate to kill the victim.

The inmate who was in the Linn County Jail with Fleming had testified Fleming offered to post his $5,000 bail bond if he would get rid of the 17-year-old. The other inmate was awaiting trial for a robbery charge and never bailed out.

Fleming said the district court also should have lessened the sentence when he accepted responsibility for his acts. However, the 8th Circuit Court said that acceptance of responsibility was inconsistent with Fleming's attempt to have the victim killed.

The appeals court said the issue of the district court's credibility to determine sentences is "virtually unreviewable" on appeal.

In a separate brief, Fleming argued that the government breached his plea agreement.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, rejected that argument. It said the plea agreement allowed the government to refrain from asking for a lesser sentence after Fleming provided false information to the court.