United States v. George Pena

Opinion

Case: 17-13833 Date Filed: 06/11/2018 Page: 1 of 2

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 17-13833 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 3:16-cr-00161-MMH-JBT-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

GEORGE PENA,

Defendant-Appellant. ________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________

(June 11, 2018)

Before TJOFLAT, NEWSOM and ANDERSON Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

The Government’s motion to dismiss this appeal pursuant to the appeal

waiver in Appellant’s plea agreement is GRANTED. See United States v. Bushert,

997 F.2d 1343, 1350–51 (11th Cir. 1993) (sentence appeal waiver will be enforced Case: 17-13833 Date Filed: 06/11/2018 Page: 2 of 2

if it was made knowingly and voluntarily); United States v. Bascomb, 451 F.3d

1292, 1297 (11th Cir. 2006) (appeal waiver “cannot be vitiated or altered by

comments the court makes during sentencing”); United States v. Grinard-Henry,

399 F.3d 1294, 1296 (11th Cir. 2005) (waiver of the right to appeal includes

waiver of the right to appeal difficult or debatable legal issues or even blatant

error); United States v. Buchanan, 131 F.3d 1005, 1008 (11th Cir. 1997) (stating

that motions to dismiss based on sentence appeal waivers should be decided at the

earliest stage, except in extraordinary circumstances, to avoid depriving the

government of the benefit that it has bargained for).