United States v. Paula Cole

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: February 16, 2021
• Docket: 20-3005
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 20-3005 ___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Paula Cole

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids ____________

Submitted: February 10, 2021 Filed: February 16, 2021 [Unpublished] ____________

Before LOKEN, COLLOTON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Paula Cole appeals after she pleaded guilty to perjury and the district court1 imposed a sentence that varied downward from the advisory sentencing guideline

1 The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa. range. Her counsel has moved to withdraw and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the four-month prison sentence and four-month home detention as unreasonable.

Having reviewed the record under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard of review, see Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007), we conclude that the district court did not impose an unreasonable sentence. The court properly considered the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and there is no indication that the court overlooked a relevant factor, gave significant weight to an improper or irrelevant factor, or committed a clear error of judgment in weighing relevant factors. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461-62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc); see also United States v. Dunn, 928 F.3d 688, 694 (8th Cir. 2019); United States v. Lazarski, 560 F.3d 731, 733 (8th Cir. 2009). Furthermore, we have independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no nonfrivolous issues for appeal.

Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw, and we affirm the judgment. ______________________________

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