United States v. Grady

35 F. App'x 60

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: May 7, 2002
• Docket: 01-4261
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Robert Lee Grady pled guflty, pursuant to a written plea agreement, to one count of assault with a deadly weapon on a United States Postal employee, Janet Hughes, 18 U.S.C.A. § 111(a), (b) (West 2000), and one count of use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (1994). Grady was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 216 months. On appeal, Grady contends that the district court erred in accepting his guilty plea without requiring the Government to provide a factual basis for the assertion that Janet Hughes was a government employee. We affirm Grady’s conviction.

Because Grady did not raise this claim in the district court, our review is for plain error. See United States v. Martinez, 277 F.3d 517, 524-25 (4th Cir.2002). Under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(f), a court may satisfy the factual basis requirement by examining the presentence report. Martinez, 277 F.3d at 532 (citing United States v. Graves, 106 F.3d 342, 345 (10 Cir.1997)). The district court’s finding of a factual basis is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Martinez, 211 F.3d at 531.

We find the district court did not abuse its discretion in relying on the presentence report to satisfy the factual basis requirement of Rule 11(f). The presentence report described Hughes as a United States Postal Service Rural Route Carrier. Further, Grady admitted at the plea hearing that he was guilty of assaulting a government employee. We find there was an adequate factual basis to support Grady’s conviction. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the material before the court and argument would not aid in the decisional process.

AFFIRMED.