United States v. Ronald John Heromin

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: January 14, 2021
• Docket: 19-13405
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA11 Case: 19-13405 Date Filed: 01/14/2021 Page: 1 of 3

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 19-13405 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 8:11-cr-00550-VMC-SPF-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

RONALD JOHN HEROMIN,

Defendant-Appellant. ________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida ________________________

(January 14, 2021)

Before WILSON, ROSENBAUM, and ED CARNES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Ronald Heromin, a federal prisoner acting pro se, appeals the district court’s

denial of his motion for relief from his judgment of conviction, which he brought

under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), and the district court’s denial of his USCA11 Case: 19-13405 Date Filed: 01/14/2021 Page: 2 of 3

motion for reconsideration of that order. The government has moved to dismiss

the appeal or for summary affirmance and to stay the briefing schedule.

Summary disposition is appropriate when “the position of one of the parties

is clearly right as a matter of law so that there can be no substantial question as to

the outcome of the case, or where, as is more frequently the case, the appeal is

frivolous.” Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir.

1969). 1 An appeal is frivolous if it is “without arguable merit either in law or

fact.” Napier v. Preslicka, 314 F.3d 528, 531 (11th Cir. 2002) (quotation marks

omitted).

Even putting aside questions about the use of Rule 60(b) to attack a criminal

conviction, see United States v. Mosavi, 138 F.3d 1365, 1366 (11th Cir. 1998); see

also Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524 (2005), Heromin’s claims are frivolous on

their face. To the extent the claims are based on his being a sovereign citizen, we

have rejected as frivolous arguments that people who proclaim themselves

“sovereign citizens” are not subject to the jurisdiction of any courts. See, e.g.,

United States v. Sterling, 738 F.3d 228, 233 n.1 (11th Cir. 2013). And his claim

that all of Title 18 of the United States Code is invalid is patently frivolous. There

is “no substantial question as to the outcome of the case,” Davis, 406 F.2d at 1162,

1 We are bound by cases decided by the former Fifth Circuit before October 1, 1981. Bonner v. City of Pritchard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc). 2 USCA11 Case: 19-13405 Date Filed: 01/14/2021 Page: 3 of 3

and the appeal plainly is “without arguable merit either in law or fact,” Napier, 314

F.3d at 531 (quotation marks omitted).

We GRANT the government’s motion for SUMMARY AFFIRMANCE and

DENY AS MOOT its motion to stay the briefing schedule.