Case ID: f-appx_16/html/0552-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "PER CURIAM.", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Mario CERVANTES-MORENO, Appellant.
    No. 01-1533WM.
    United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
    Submitted July 30, 2001.
    Decided Aug. 13, 2001.
    
      Before BYE, RICHARD S. ARNOLD, and BEAM, Circuit Judges.
   PER CURIAM.

Mario Cervantes-Moreno pleaded guilty to reentering the United States illegally after previously having been convicted of an aggravated felony and deported, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1826(a) and (b)(2). The District Court sentenced Cervantes-Moreno to 6 years and 5 months (seventy-seven months) imprisonment and 3 years supervised release, and he appeals. His counsel has filed a brief and has moved to withdraw pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). Although we granted Cervantes-Moreno permission to file a pro se supplemental brief, he has not done so.

As part of his written plea agreement, Cervantes-Moreno waived the right to appeal sentencing issues to which he had stipulated, including his base offense level. We conclude that the waiver was knowing and voluntary: Cervantes-Moreno attended school through the tenth grade; he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the change-of-plea hearing; his prior convictions indicated his experience with the criminal justice system; and he admitted he had read the plea agreement and discussed it with his attorney. See United States v. Michelsen, 141 F.3d 867, 871-72 (8th Cir.) (holding that appeal waiver is enforceable so long as it resulted from knowing and voluntary decision; examining personal characteristics of defendant and circumstances surrounding plea agreement), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 942, 119 S.Ct. 363, 142 L.Ed.2d 299 (1998); United States v.. Greger, 98 F.3d 1080, 1081-82 (8th Cir. 1996) (so long as sentence is not in conflict with negotiated plea agreement, knowing and voluntary waiver of right to appeal from sentence will be enforced).

Accordingly, because we have found no meritorious issues that are not waived, we affirm. We also grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

A true copy. 
      
      . The Honorable Dean Whipple, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.