Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-09-03513/USCOURTS-ca8-09-03513-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Miguel Alvarado-Sanchez
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The HONORABLE ROBERT W. PRATT, Chief Judge, United States District

Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 09-3513

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, * Appeal from the United States

* District Court for the

v. * Southern District of Iowa.

*

Miguel Alvarado-Sanchez, also known * [UNPUBLISHED]

as Miguel Rodriguez, *

*

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: June 30, 2010

Filed: July 6, 2010

___________

Before LOKEN, BYE, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Miguel Alvarado-Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 50 grams

of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing

methamphetamine, 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, Alvarado-Sanchez’s counsel seeks to

withdraw and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967),

Appellate Case: 09-3513 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/06/2010 Entry ID: 3680607
-2-

asserting that the sentence imposed was unreasonable and that there was insufficient

evidence to support the conviction. 

Having carefully reviewed the record, we conclude that the district court did not

abuse its discretion in imposing the statutory minimum sentence. See United States

v. Chacon, 330 F.3d 1065, 1066 (8th Cir. 2003) (only authority to depart from

statutory minimum sentence is 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). We further conclude that by entering a valid guilty plea,

Alvarado-Sanchez waived any challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting

his conviction. See United States v. Ternus, 598 F.3d 1251, 1254 (11th Cir. 2010)

(sufficiency-of-evidence challenge is nonjurisdictional and waived by guilty plea);

United States v. Staples, 435 F.3d 860, 864 (8th Cir. 2006) (valid guilty plea waives

all nonjurisdictional defects). Finding no nonfrivolous issue for appeal, see Penson

v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80 (1988), we grant counsel leave to withdraw, and we affirm

the judgment. 

______________________________

Appellate Case: 09-3513 Page: 2 Date Filed: 07/06/2010 Entry ID: 3680607