United States v. Maria Carrillo-Varelas

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: July 1, 2019
• Docket: 18-3209
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 18-3209 ___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Maria Esther Carrillo-Varelas

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville ____________

Submitted: June 27, 2019 Filed: July 1, 2019 [Unpublished] ____________

Before KELLY, BOWMAN, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Maria Esther Carrillo-Varelas directly appeals after she pled guilty to a drug- trafficking offense, and the district court1 sentenced her to a prison term below the

1 The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas. calculated United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual (“Guidelines”) range. Her counsel has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the district court’s application of two Guidelines enhancements, one for maintaining a premises for the purpose of distributing a controlled substance, and the other for possessing a dangerous weapon during a drug-trafficking offense.

After careful review of the record, we conclude that the enhancements were properly applied, as they were not based on clearly erroneous findings. See United States v. Miller, 698 F.3d 699, 705 (8th Cir. 2012) (noting whether the defendant maintained a premises for the purpose of distributing a controlled substance is a factual finding reviewed for clear error); United States v. Atkins, 250 F.3d 1203, 1213 (8th Cir. 2001) (noting whether the defendant possessed a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense is a factual finding reviewed for clear error). We have also independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no non-frivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we affirm. ______________________________

-2-