United States v. Abigail Knight

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 24-2309 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Abigail Margarete Knight

Defendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Eastern ____________

Submitted: December 4, 2024 Filed: December 9, 2024 [Unpublished] ____________

Before GRUENDER, BENTON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Abigail Knight appeals the below-Guidelines sentence the district court 1 imposed after she pled guilty to two counts of producing child pornography. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms.

1 The Honorable Stephen H. Locher, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. Counsel moved for leave to withdraw and filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the sentence as substantively unreasonable. Upon careful review, this court concludes that the district court did not impose a substantively unreasonable sentence, as it properly considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors; there is no indication that it overlooked a relevant factor, or committed a clear error of judgment in weighing relevant factors; and the sentence was below the advisory Guidelines range. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (abuse of discretion review); United States v. Anderson, 90 F.4th 1226, 1227 (8th Cir. 2024) (district court has wide latitude in weighing relevant factors); United States v. McCauley, 715 F.3d 1119, 1127 (8th Cir. 2013) (when district court varies below Guidelines range, it is “nearly inconceivable” that court abused its discretion in not varying further).

Having independently reviewed the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), this court finds no non-frivolous issues for appeal.

The judgment is affirmed and counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted. ______________________________

-2-