United States v. Gomez

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: February 26, 2025
• Docket: 24-4319
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FEB 26 2025 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 24-4319 D.C. No. Plaintiff - Appellee, 2:23-cr-00490-SVW-1 v. MEMORANDUM* PABLO FRANCO GOMEZ, AKA Pedro Sontos/Santos, AKA Stevie Margarito Hernandez, AKA Jorge Gomez, AKA Pedro Gonzalez Gomez,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Stephen V. Wilson, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted February 18, 2025**

Before: SILVERMAN, WARDLAW, and DESAI, Circuit Judges.

Pablo Franco Gomez appeals from the district court’s judgment and

challenges his guilty-plea conviction and 57-month sentence for possession with

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). intent to distribute fentanyl in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(vi).

Gomez’s counsel filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738

(1967), stating that there are no non-frivolous arguments for appeal. Appellant has

not filed a pro se supplemental brief.

In the plea agreement, Gomez waived the right to appeal the conviction,

except to claim the plea was involuntary, and the right to appeal most aspects of

the sentence. Our independent review of the record, see Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S.

75, 80 (1988), discloses no basis to challenge the voluntariness of Gomez’s plea or

any aspect of the sentence that falls outside the appeal waiver. We therefore affirm

as to those issues.

We dismiss the remainder of the appeal because there is no non-frivolous

issue as to whether the appeal waiver is enforceable. See United States v. Watson,

582 F.3d 974, 986-88 (9th Cir. 2009).

Counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted.

AFFIRMED in part; DISMISSED in part.

2 24-4319