United States v. Delmar Phillips

256 F. App'x 22

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: November 29, 2007
• Docket: 06-4162
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Delmar Phillips conditionally pleaded guilty to possessing more than 50 grams of actual methamphetamine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The district court 1 sentenced him to 120 months in prison, the statutory minimum, and 5 years of supervised release. On appeal, his counsel has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and has moved to withdraw. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm, and we grant counsel’s withdrawal motion.

First, law enforcement officers’ knowledge from a records check that Phillips was driving with a suspended license gave them probable cause to arrest him. The arrest, in turn, gave the officers authority to conduct a search of Phillips’s person incident to the arrest. Thus, the district court correctly denied his motion to suppress the drugs seized from his person. See United States v. Jones, 479 F.3d 975, 978 (8th Cir.2007). Second, the district court lacked authority to sentence Phillips below the 10-year statutory minimum. See United States v. Gregg, 451 F.3d 930, 937 (8th Cir.2006); United States v. Chacon, 330 F.3d 1065, 1066 (8th Cir.2003).

Finally, having found no nonfrivolous issues after reviewing the record independently under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 109 S.Ct. 346, 102 L.Ed.2d 300 (1988), we affirm the judgment of the district court and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

1 . The Honorable Robert T. Dawson, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.