United States v. Christopher Mathis

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

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No. 24-2179

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United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Christopher Charles Mathis

Defendant - Appellant

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Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas - Central

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Submitted: April 22, 2025 Filed: April 25, 2025

[Unpublished]

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Before LOKEN, ERICKSON, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Christopher Mathis received a 195-month prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). An Anders

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brief suggests the district court 1 should not have sentenced him under the Armed Career Criminal Act. See id. § 924(e); Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).

We conclude otherwise. See United States v. Porter, 409 F.3d 910, 917 (8th Cir. 2005) (describing the plain-error standard of review). The indictment charged Mathis with committing his prior offenses “on occasions different from one another,” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1), and he “freely admitted” doing so “in [his] guilty plea,” Erlinger v. United States, 602 U.S. 821, 834 (2024). Once he did, there was no need to submit the different-occasions question to a jury. See id.

We have also 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.

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1 The Honorable James M. Moody, Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.