United States v. Zachary Kruse

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: March 7, 2024
• Docket: 23-3272
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 23-3272 ___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Zachary James Kruse

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________

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

Submitted: March 4, 2024 Filed: March 7, 2024 [Unpublished] ____________

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

PER CURIAM.

Zachary Kruse appeals the sentence imposed by the district court1 after he pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy offense. His counsel has requested leave to

1 The Honorable C.J. Williams, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the sentence as substantively unreasonable.

Upon careful review, we conclude that the district court did not impose a substantively unreasonable sentence, as the court properly considered the factors listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and did not err in weighing the relevant factors. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461–62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (sentences are reviewed for substantive reasonableness under deferential abuse-of- discretion standard; abuse of discretion occurs when court fails to consider relevant factor, gives significant weight to improper or irrelevant factor, or commits clear error of judgment in weighing appropriate factors). Further, the court imposed a sentence below the Guidelines range. See United States v. McCauley, 715 F.3d 1119, 1127 (8th Cir. 2013).

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 affirm, and we grant counsel leave to withdraw. ______________________________

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