United States v. Cristina Dawn Griego

702 F. App'x 493
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 7, 2017
Docket16-3587
StatusUnpublished

This text of 702 F. App'x 493 (United States v. Cristina Dawn Griego) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Cristina Dawn Griego, 702 F. App'x 493 (8th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Cristina Dawn Griego pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the illegal transfer of a shotgun, in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(e), 5845(a)(1), 5871, and 18 U.S.C. § 2. At sentencing, the district court 1 determined Griego’s sentencing range to be 41 to 51 months’ imprisonment, according to the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Griego moved for a two-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1. The court denied the motion and sentenced Griego to 41 months—the low end of her Guidelines range. Griego appeals the denial of the reduction. Because Griego waived her right to appeal the denial of the acceptance-of-responsibility reduction in her plea agreement, we will not address her arguments on the merits. As a result, her appeal is dismissed.

Griego admitted to the following factual allegations:

On March 31, 2015, the defendant met with the Cl [ (confidential informant) ] in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, about the purchase of the shotgun, which the Defendant knew was illegal to possess or sell. The Defendant told the Cl her co-conspirator would not sell the firearm without another individual involved in the conspiracy being present. The De *495 fendant assisted in making arrangements for the sale to be completed.
On April 1, 2015, after the firearm was sold to the Cl, a controlled payoff was executed where the Cl gave the defendant and [her husband] money for the firearm.

Although pleading to knowingly facilitating the illegal sale of a firearm, Griego nonetheless denied knowledge of the shotgun transfer at her change-of-plea hearing:

All I know is that [my co-conspirator] brought [the shotgun] to my house and I got very angry when he brought it out of the bag because he asked my husband for a backpack and my husband gave him a backpack and he brought the sawed off shotgun out of the bag..,.
* ⅜ *
[T]hey were talking about selling it and I just said, I just—-they were talking about a few things, like selling the bag and a vacuum cleaner as well as the shotgun. And I said I don’t want to hear that, I want nothing to do with it, just keep [the shotgun] out of my house. And so they did. The next day [the Cl] called my husband and my husband was supposed to meet with them....
* * *
I assumed it was for the vacuum cleaner and for—for drugs.

When describing the exchange of money between the Cl and her husband, Griego said, “I was joking with him and I said, [the money’s] mine, you know. And I [asked] what is that for and he said it was for a vacuum cleaner. I didn’t—that’s as far as I knew it was.” Because of Griego’s equivocation on the witness stand, the district court had to find “an independent factual basis” for proving the factual elements of her guilty plea.

Before sentencing, the United States Probation Office prepared Griego’s presen-tence investigative report (PSR). During the PSR interviews, Griego continued to represent that “she did not know what was transpiring” regarding the gun sale and that she believed the money was exchanged for a vacuum cleaner. When asked about her background, “much of what the defendant reported regarding her biographical history was false.” Because of Griego’s dissimulation, the probation office recommended that she receive a sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1. The probation office also suggested that the district court deny the offense-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility “[b]ased on her minimization of the offense and the adjustment for obstruction of justice.”

At sentencing, the district court agreed with the probation office, applied the obstruction-of-justice enhancement, and denied the offense-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. 2 “All of that [behavior],” the court said, “indicates that she was not’ truthfully admitting her conduct that comprised the offense of conviction and has not accepted responsi *496 bility.” Griego now appeals the denial of her requested offense-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility.

Griego argues that the district court erred by not applying the aeceptance-of-responsibility adjustment. Griego asserts that she clearly demonstrated acceptance of responsibility. She principally relies on two points: (1) the “significant evidence” demonstrated by the signing of her plea agreement, see U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 cmt. n.3, and (2) her “post-offense rehabilitative efforts,” see id, § 3E1.1 cmt. n.l(G). We will not address her arguments on the merits because in her plea agreement, Griego waived her right to appeal the denial of the acceptance-of-responsibility reduction.

We review “the validity and applicability” of an appeal waiver de novo. United States v. Scott, 627 F.3d 702, 704 (8th Cir. 2010). Because federal appellate rights come from statutory law and not the Constitution, Griego may waive her statutory right to appeal. See United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886, 889 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc). Appellate waivers must be knowing and voluntary and must not result in “a miscarriage of justice.” See id. at 890-91. 3 Further, when interpreting the scope of the waiver, “[p]lea agreements will be strictly construed and any ambiguities in these agreements will be read against the Government and in favor of a defendant’s appellate rights.” Id. at 890.

Griego’s plea agreement states, in relevant part:

The Defendant hereby waives all defenses and her right to appeal any non-jurisdictional issues. The parties agree that excluded from this waiver is the Defendant’s right to appeal any decision by the Court to depart upward pursuant to the sentencing guidelines as well as the length of her sentence for a determination of its substantive reasonableness should the Court impose an upward departure or an upward variance pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3653(a).

At her change-of-plea hearing, Griego testified that she understood the consequences of the appeal waiver. She argues, however, that “[njothing in the plea agreement regarding acceptance of responsibili-' ty made it clear that she would also be denied the reduction” and that this denial “created an ambiguity within the plea agreement.” We disagree.

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Related

United States v. Scott
627 F.3d 702 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. John Robert Andis
333 F.3d 886 (Eighth Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Mousseau
517 F.3d 1044 (Eighth Circuit, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
702 F. App'x 493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-cristina-dawn-griego-ca8-2017.