United States v. Taft Burtton

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: July 11, 2025
• Docket: 25-1227
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 25-1227 ___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Taft Cornelius Burtton

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Western ____________

Submitted: July 8, 2025 Filed: July 11, 2025 [Unpublished] ____________

Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Taft Burtton appeals the sentence the district court1 imposed after he pleaded guilty to drug and firearm offenses pursuant to a written plea agreement. His counsel

1 The Honorable Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. has moved to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the substantive reasonableness of the sentence.

Having reviewed the record under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard of review, we conclude the district court did not impose a substantively unreasonable sentence, as the court considered the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and there is no indication 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 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc); see also United States v. McCauley, 715 F.3d 1119, 1127 (8th Cir. 2013) (explaining that when a district court varies below the Guideline range, “it is nearly inconceivable” that the court abused its discretion in not varying further). Finally, we have independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no non-frivolous issues for appeal.

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

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