United States v. Fredy Morales-Alvarez

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: January 12, 2021
• Docket: 20-2522
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 20-2522 ___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Fredy Juan Morales-Alvarez

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Eastern ____________

Submitted: January 07, 2021 Filed: January 12, 2021 [Unpublished] ____________

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

PER CURIAM.

Fredy Juan Morales-Alvarez appeals after he pleaded guilty to a drug offense, and the district court1 imposed a sentence at the bottom of the advisory sentencing

1 The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa. guideline range. His counsel has moved to withdraw and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the sentence as substantively unreasonable.

Having reviewed the record under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard of review, see Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007), we conclude that the district court did not impose an unreasonable sentence. The court properly considered the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and there is no indication that the court overlooked a relevant factor, gave significant weight to an improper or irrelevant factor, or committed a clear error of judgment in weighing relevant factors. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461-62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc); see also United States v. Dunn, 928 F.3d 688, 694 (8th Cir. 2019). Furthermore, we have independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no nonfrivolous issues for appeal.

Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw, and we affirm the judgment. ______________________________

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