United States v. Pelayo-Torres

221 F. App'x 801
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided April 18, 2007·No. No. 06-1061·Published

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

NEIL M. GORSUCH, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Flavio Pelayo-Torres pled guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of a [802] deported alien subsequent to an aggravated felony1 conviction, for possession/sale of cocaine base, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2). Pursuant to a written plea agreement under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1)(C), the district court sentenced him to seventy-seven months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. He appeals his imprisonment sentence.

Mr. Pelayo-Torres’ counsel filed an Anders brief, indicating that this court lacks jurisdiction to review the sentence and therefore the appeal is frivolous, and she moved to withdraw as counsel. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). Mr. PelayoTorres filed a pro se response arguing, based on United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), and Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated by the district court’s, and not a jury’s, finding that he had been previously convicted of an aggravated felony. The government declined to file a brief.

After counsel’s Anders brief was filed, the Supreme Court decided Lopez v. Gonzales, — U.S. -, 127 S.Ct. 625, 166 L.Ed.2d 462 (2006). Lopez held that a state drug trafficking offense is an aggravated felony if it would be punished as a felony under the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. Lopez, 127 S.Ct. at 629-31, 633; see also United States v. Martinez-Macias, 472 F.3d 1216, 1217, 1218 (10th Cir.2007) (applying Lopez in § 1326 case where aggravated felony was state felony conviction for possession of cocaine). We asked the parties to file briefs addressing what effect, if any, Lopez has on this case. The government argues that Lopez has no effect and this court lacks jurisdiction to review the length of Mr. Pelayo-Torres’ sentence. Mr. Pelayo-Torres’ counsel argues that under Lopez the aggravated felony portion of the sentence must be set aside. Counsel, however, has not withdrawn her motion to withdraw. For the reasons discussed below, we grant Mr. Pelayo-Torres’ counsel’s motion to withdraw and dismiss the appeal.

I

Mr. Pelayo-Torres is a citizen of Mexico. In 1996, he was convicted in California of felony possession of cocaine base with intent to sell in violation of California Health & Safety Code § 11351.5 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. In July 2002, he was deported to Mexico, having been deported to Mexico on five other occasions. Mr. Pelayo-Torres returned to the United States yet again and was found in Colorado on March 23, 2003.

The government charged him with unlawful reentry of a deported alien subsequent to an aggravated felony conviction in violation of § 1326(a) and (b)(2). Mr. Pelayo-Torres and the government entered into a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to the charge in exchange for the government’s stipulation to a sentence at the bottom of the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range. At the plea hearing, the district court deferred acceptance of the plea agreement until the time of sentencing. Upon receiving and review[803] ing the Presentence Report, the district court accepted the stipulation and plea agreement and, in compliance with Rule 11(c)(1)(C) and following the plea agreement,2 sentenced Mr. Pelayo-Torres to seventy-seven months’ imprisonment. At sentencing, the parties made no objections to the factual contents of the Presentence Report or its calculation of the sentence under the Guidelines; neither did they contend that a non-Guidelines sentence was appropriate.

II

Under Anders, “counsel [may] request permission to withdraw [from an appeal] where counsel conscientiously examines a case and determines that any appeal would be wholly frivolous.” United States v. Calderon, 428 F.3d 928, 930 (10th Cir.2005) (citing Anders, 386 U.S. at 744, 87 S.Ct. 1396). This process requires counsel to

submit a brief to the client and the appellate court indicating any potential appealable issues based on the record. The client may then choose to submit arguments to the court. The [c]ourt must then conduct a full examination of the record to determine whether defendant’s claims are wholly frivolous. If the court concludes after such an examination that the appeal is frivolous, it may grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and may dismiss the appeal.

Id. (internal citations to Anders, 386 U.S. at 744, 87 S.Ct. 1396, omitted). We conclude, after examining the record and the relevant law, that Mr. Pelayo-Torres’ appeal of his sentence meets this standard.

Under Rule 11(c)(1)(C), parties entering into a plea agreement may “agree that a specific sentence or sentencing range is the appropriate disposition of the case, ... (such a recommendation or request binds the court once the court accepts the plea agreement).” Because Mr. Pelayo-Torres agreed to and received the specific sentence set forth in the Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, he may appeal his sentence only if it was imposed (1) in violation of the law; (2) due to an incorrect application of the Sentencing Guidelines; or (3) in excess of the sentence set forth in the plea agreement. 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a), (c); see Calderon, 428 F.3d at 932. Otherwise, this court lacks jurisdiction over this appeal. See Calderon, 428 F.3d at 932.

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United States v. Pelayo-Torres, 221 F. App'x 801 (10th Cir. 2007).

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Related

Anders v. California
386 U.S. 738 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Almendarez-Torres v. United States
523 U.S. 224 (Supreme Court, 1998)
Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Lopez v. Gonzales
549 U.S. 47 (Supreme Court, 2006)
United States v. Moore
401 F.3d 1220 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Silva
413 F.3d 1283 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Delacruz-Soto
414 F.3d 1158 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Calderon
428 F.3d 928 (Tenth Circuit, 2005)
United States v. Martinez-Macias
472 F.3d 1216 (Tenth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Chavez-Avila
215 F. App'x 735 (Tenth Circuit, 2007)
Custis v. United States
511 U.S. 485 (Supreme Court, 1994)
United States v. Graham
466 F.3d 1234 (Tenth Circuit, 2006)