Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01313/USCOURTS-ca8-07-01313-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Raul Ortega Mijares
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Richard G. Kopf, United States District Judge for the District

of Nebraska. 

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 07-1313

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* District of Nebraska.

Raul Ortega Mijares, also known as *

Safari, also known as Luis Fernando * [UNPUBLISHED]

Garcia-Rios, *

*

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: February 13, 2008

 Filed: February 19, 2008

___________

Before WOLLMAN, RILEY, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Raul Ortega Mijares appeals the 120-month prison sentence the district court1

imposed after he pleaded guilty to a drug offense. On appeal, counsel has filed a brief

under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), in which he moves to withdraw. We

affirm.

Appellate Case: 07-1313 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/19/2008 Entry ID: 3403932
2

United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005).

-2-

For reversal, counsel raises as a possible argument that the district court

mishandled this case. Upon careful review of the record, we conclude that this

argument has no merit. In particular, we find that the district court’s unobjected-to

refusal to grant safety-valve relief was not error, plain or otherwise, see United States

v. Pirani, 406 F.3d 543, 550 (8th Cir. 2005) (en banc) (describing plain-error review

that appellate court uses to correct error not raised at trial), because Mijares admitted

that he had refused to provide certain information about his offense that had been

requested by the government, see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) and U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2(a)

(safety-valve relief requirements). Accordingly, the 10-year statutory minimum

imposed by the district court was the lowest sentence the court could legally have

imposed. See United States v. Gregg, 451 F.3d 930, 937 (8th Cir. 2006) (“Booker2

does not relate to statutorily-imposed sentences”); United States v. Chacon, 330 F.3d

1065, 1066 (8th Cir. 2003) (only authority for district court to depart from statutory

minimum sentence is found in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and (f), which apply only when

government makes motion for substantial assistance or defendant qualifies for

safety-valve relief). 

Having reviewed the record independently under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75,

80 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues. Accordingly, we grant counsel leave to

withdraw, and we affirm the judgment.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 07-1313 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/19/2008 Entry ID: 3403932