JACKSON, Miss. — A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and sentence of man for the sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl in Mississippi.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied arguments Tuesday from Marco Laquin Rogers that his sentence was too harsh and the evidence didn't prove his guilt.
Rogers, now 29, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2013. A federal jury in Jackson convicted him on charges of trafficking of a minor child and production of child pornography.
Authorities say Rogers and another man attacked the girl at a Jackson hotel room in May 2012 after Rogers, who was acquainted with the child's uncle, took her to Mississippi from Memphis under the guise of taking her to a party.