Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-09-03659/USCOURTS-ca8-09-03659-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
United States of America
Appellee
Royal Joseph Louis Zeno
Appellant

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Richard H. Kyle, United States District Judge for the District

of Minnesota.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 09-3659

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* District of Minnesota.

Royal Joseph Louis Zeno, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: July 20, 2010

Filed: August 2, 2010

___________

Before LOKEN, MURPHY, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Royal Joseph Louis Zeno pled guilty to conspiring to distribute in excess of 50

grams of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) and 846. The

district court1

 imposed the statutory minimum sentence of 120 months in prison and

5 years of supervised release. On appeal, Zeno’s counsel has filed a brief under

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), asserting that the 10-year mandatory

minimum sentence for this offense is unconstitutional. 

Appellate Case: 09-3659 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/02/2010 Entry ID: 3689092
-2-

Counsel’s argument is unavailing. The mandatory minimum sentence under

section 841 does not violate the separation-of-powers doctrine, see United States v.

Prior, 107 F.3d 654, 660 (8th Cir. 1997), the Eighth Amendment, see United States

v. Garcia, 521 F.3d 898, 901 (8th Cir. 2008), or the right to equal protection, see

United States v. McClellon, 578 F.3d 846, 861-62 (8th Cir. 2009), cert. denied 130 S.

Ct. 1106 (2010). 

Finding no nonfrivolous issue on appeal, see Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80

(1988), we affirm the judgment and grant counsel leave to withdraw, subject to

counsel informing appellant about procedures for seeking rehearing or filing a petition

for certiorari. 

______________________________

Appellate Case: 09-3659 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/02/2010 Entry ID: 3689092