United States v. Anene Okolie

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: March 3, 2022
• Docket: 21-3124
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 21-3124 ___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Anene Awele Okolie, also known as Anene Hakeem Okolie, also known as Anene Okolie, also known as Hakeem Anene Okolie, also known as Anene Marie Okilie, also known as Antwane Dewon Culbreath, also known as Ronald C. Oliver

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________

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

Submitted: February 25, 2022 Filed: March 3, 2022 [Unpublished] ____________

Before LOKEN, ERICKSON, and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Anene Okolie received a 30-month prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to distributing heroin. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). In an Anders brief, Okolie’s counsel questions the drug-quantity calculation and suggests that the overall sentence is substantively unreasonable. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).

We conclude that the district court’s1 drug-quantity calculation was not clearly erroneous. See United States v. Yellow Horse, 774 F.3d 493, 496 (8th Cir. 2014). We also conclude that Okolie received a substantively reasonable sentence. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461–62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (reviewing the reasonableness of a sentence under “a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard” (quotation marks omitted)). The record establishes that the district court sufficiently considered the statutory sentencing factors, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and did not rely on an improper factor or commit a clear error of judgment. See United States v. Larison, 432 F.3d 921, 923–24 (8th Cir. 2006); see also United States v. Mangum, 625 F.3d 466, 469–70 (8th Cir. 2010).

Finally, we have independently reviewed the record and conclude that no other non-frivolous issues exist. See Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 82–83 (1988). We accordingly affirm the judgment of the district court and grant counsel permission to withdraw. ______________________________

1 The Honorable Stephanie M. Rose, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. -2-