United States v. Ernestina Gonzalez-Lemus

495 F. App'x 751
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedDecember 21, 2012
Docket12-1815
StatusUnpublished

This text of 495 F. App'x 751 (United States v. Ernestina Gonzalez-Lemus) 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. Ernestina Gonzalez-Lemus, 495 F. App'x 751 (8th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Ernestina Gonzalez-Lemus (Gonzalez-Lemus) appeals the sentence imposed by the district court 1 on her conviction for conspiracy to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine. She asks the court to vacate the sentence and remand the case for re-sentencing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), the “safety valve” provision. We affirm.

Gonzalez-Lemus and her boyfriend, Jose Arambula Ruiz (Ruiz), lived together in Lincoln, Nebraska, where Ruiz was employed as a construction worker and Gonzalez-Lemus worked from home. In early 2011, one of Ruiz’s co-workers offered to introduce Ruiz and Gonzalez-Lemus to Olga Reyes (Reyes), his drug supplier. Gonzalez-Lemus and Ruiz met with Reyes and arranged to obtain methamphetamine from her to sell in the Lincoln area.

On April 18, 2011, DEA agents observed as Gonzalez-Lemus and Ruiz met with a police informant to arrange the sale of methamphetamine. During the meeting, Ruiz told the informant he and Gonzalez-Lemus had been selling two to three pounds of methamphetamine each week. Gonzalez-Lemus told the informant she could also obtain cocaine if the informant was interested. The informant later visited their residence to complete a controlled purchase of methamphetamine.

Based on evidence later obtained during a lawful search of the residence, the government charged Gonzalez-Lemus, Ruiz, and Reyes with conspiracy to distribute fifty grams or more of methamphetamine. The government and Gonzalez-Lemus negotiated a plea agreement, which included a provision for a waiver of Gonzalez-Le-mus’s right to appeal. 2

At the plea hearing, the magistrate judge had the prosecutor summarize the plea agreement and then asked Gonzalez-Lemus, through an interpreter, whether she had understood it, to which Gonzalez-Lemus indicated she had. The magistrate judge found Gonzalez-Lemus had knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered *753 the plea, a finding which the district court adopted when it accepted the plea agreement.

Prior to the sentencing hearing, Gonzalez-Lemus participated in a proffer interview with law enforcement, offering details about the conspiracy. She told the interviewer about the co-worker who had introduced her and Ruiz to Reyes but was unable to give more than a general description of him. She also claimed the sale to the informant was the first one in which she and Ruiz had engaged. In describing the negotiation of the sale, she initially denied being present for or being a part of the conversation with the informant. After a discussion with her attorney, Gonzalez-Lemus then admitted she had participated in the conversation.

At the sentencing hearing, Gonzalez-Le-mus argued in favor of a reduced “safety valve” sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 8553(f). The district court concluded she was not eligible for a reduced sentence, finding she had not given complete and truthful information during the proffer interview. The district court then sentenced Gonzalez-Lemus to 108 months’ incarceration. She now appeals her sentence.

On appeal, Gonzalez-Lemus again asserts she was eligible for a “safety valve” sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) and urges the court to vacate her sentence and remand the case for re-sentencing. The government argues we do not need to reach the merits of Gonzalez-Lemus’s sentencing argument because she waived her right to pursue this appeal in the plea agreement. Accordingly, we must first determine whether the waiver of the right to appeal was valid. We typically review de novo whether a valid waiver of appellate rights occurred. United States v. Sisco, 576 F.3d 791, 795 (8th Cir.2009). However, where, as here, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the district court’s Rule 11 colloquy for the first time on appeal, we review for plain error. United States v. Frook, 616 F.3d 773, 777 (8th Cir .2010).

Gonzalez-Lemus argues the court should find the waiver of her right to appeal invalid because the magistrate judge failed to conduct the colloquy required by Rule ll(b)(l)(N) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to determine whether the waiver was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. In pertinent part, Rule ll(b)(l)(N) requires a court to “inform the defendant of, and determine that the defendant understands ... the terms of any plea-agreement provision waiving the right to appeal” before the court may accept a plea of guilty. “We have frequently declined to enforce an appeal waiver when the record does not establish that the district court engaged in the colloquy required by Rule ll(b)(l)(N).” United States v. Boneshirt, 662 F.3d 509, 516 (8th Cir .2011) (citations omitted) cert. denied, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1613, 182 L.Ed.2d 217 (2012).

Relying on United States v. Siu Kuen Ma, 290 F.3d 1002 (9th Cir.2002), the government urges us to conclude the absence of a specific discussion between the magistrate judge and Gonzalez-Lemus regarding the appeal waiver did not invalidate the waiver, arguing the prosecutor’s reference to the waiver provision while summarizing the plea agreement was sufficient to replace the required colloquy. We note that, in Ma, the Ninth Circuit concluded a prosecutor’s summary of a plea agreement was insufficient to replace the colloquy requirement of Rule 11. Id. at 1005. We similarly conclude the prosecutor’s reference to the waiver provision here while summarizing the plea agreement was insufficient to satisfy the colloquy requirement of Rule ll(b)(l)(N). We also conclude the absence of the required colloquy *754 by the district court in this case to constitute plain error and decline to enforce the appeal waiver.

Gonzalez-Lemus argues the district court erred by holding her to be ineligible for a “safety valve” sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 8553(f) on the basis of its finding that she had not provided complete and truthful information during her proffer interview. In pertinent part, 18 U.S.C. § 3558(f)(5) sets forth a requirement for a defendant to “truthfully provide[ ] to the Government all information and evidence the defendant has concerning” her offenses, to be eligible for a “safety valve” sentence. The district court found Gonzalez-Lemus had not truthfully provided to the government complete information regarding her offense.

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Related

United States v. Frook
616 F.3d 773 (Eighth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Boneshirt
662 F.3d 509 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Siu Kuen Ma
290 F.3d 1002 (Ninth Circuit, 2002)
United States v. Juan Jose Bolanos
409 F.3d 1045 (Eighth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Jose Soto
448 F.3d 993 (Eighth Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Sisco
576 F.3d 791 (Eighth Circuit, 2009)
Tafoya-Montelongo v. United States
565 U.S. 1227 (Supreme Court, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
495 F. App'x 751, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ernestina-gonzalez-lemus-ca8-2012.