United States v. Lionel Cawthon

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

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No. 25-3482

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United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Lionel Cawthon

Defendant - Appellant

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Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Nebraska - Omaha

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Submitted: July 24, 2026

Filed: July 29, 2026

[Unpublished]

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Before ERICKSON, GRASZ, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.

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PER CURIAM.

Lionel Cawthon received a 262-month sentence after he pleaded guilty to a drug offense. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(vi), 846. An Anders brief suggests that the sentence is substantively unreasonable. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).

We conclude otherwise. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461– 62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (reviewing for an abuse of discretion). The record establishes that the district court 1 sufficiently considered the statutory sentencing factors, see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and did not rely on an improper factor or commit a clear error of judgment. See United States v. McDaniels, 19 F.4th 1065, 1067 (8th Cir. 2021) (per curiam) (explaining that the district court has “latitude to weigh the relevant sentencing factors . . . differently than a defendant would have preferred” (citation omitted)).

We have also independently reviewed the record and conclude that no other non-frivolous issues exist. See Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 82–83 (1988). We accordingly affirm the judgment of the district court and grant counsel permission to withdraw.

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1 The Honorable Brian C. Buescher, then District Judge, now Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.