United States v. Vernon Williams

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: March 23, 2020
• Docket: 19-2857
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 19-2857 ___________________________

United States of America,

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee,

v.

Vernon Williams,

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant. ____________

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

Submitted: March 18, 2020 Filed: March 23, 2020 [Unpublished] ____________

Before COLLOTON, WOLLMAN, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Vernon Williams appeals the sentence the district court1 imposed after he pleaded guilty to a drug offense. His counsel has moved to withdraw, and has filed

1 The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas. a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the substantive reasonableness of Williams’s sentence.

Upon careful review under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard, 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 committed a clear error of judgment in weighing relevant factors. See United States v. Salazar-Aleman, 741 F.3d 878, 881 (8th Cir. 2013) (standard of review). Further, having independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion and affirm. ______________________________

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