United States v. Alex Green

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

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No. 21-3391

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United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Alex Dunte Green

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant

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Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Nebraska - Lincoln

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Submitted: April 8, 2022 Filed: April 13, 2022

[Unpublished]

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Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Alex Green appeals the district court’s1 judgment entered upon his guilty plea to knowingly possessing with intent to distribute cocaine. The district court

1 The Honorable John M. Gerrard, United States District Judge for the District of Nebraska.

sentenced Green to 87 months imprisonment, consistent with the terms of his Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement. His counsel has moved to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the district court’s denial of Green’s pro se motions to withdraw his plea, and arguing that the sentence was substantively unreasonable.

Upon careful review of the record, including the plea agreement and colloquy, we conclude that Green knowingly and voluntarily entered his guilty plea, and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motions to withdraw it. See United States v. Green, 521 F.3d 929, 931 (8th Cir. 2008). We further conclude that the appeal waiver is valid, enforceable, and applicable to the sentencing issue raised by counsel. See United States v. Scott, 627 F.3d 702, 704 (8th Cir. 2010); United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886, 889-92 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc).

We have also independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no non-frivolous issues for appeal outside the scope of the appeal waiver. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order denying Green’s motions to withdraw his guilty plea, dismiss the remainder of the appeal, and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

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