United States v. Lizarraga-Lopez

25 F. App'x 496

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: February 7, 2002
• Docket: 01-2879
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Arnulfo Lizarraga-Lopez pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. The district court 2 sentenced him to 87 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release. On appeal, counsel has moved to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and filed a brief raising the issue whether the district court erred in denying Lizarraga-Lopez’s motion for downward departure based on his status as a deportable alien and his willingness to waive deportation proceedings.

At sentencing the district court acknowledged its authority to depart, and thus its discretionary decision not to depart under the circumstances in this case is unreviewable. See United States v. Lim, 235 F.3d 382, 385 (8th Cir.2000).

Moreover, following our independent review, see Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80, 109 S.Ct. 346, 102 L.Ed.2d 300 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues. Accordingly, we affirm the sentence, and we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

2 . The Honorable Richard G. Kopf, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.