Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca7-16-01450/USCOURTS-ca7-16-01450-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Gerardo Baltierra
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals 

For the Seventh Circuit

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Submitted March 8, 2017

Decided March 8, 2016

Before

WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge

FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge

ILANA DIAMOND ROVNER, Circuit Judge

No. 16‐1450

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff‐Appellee,

v.

GERARDO BALTIERRA,

Defendant‐Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District

Court for the Southern District of Indiana,

Indianapolis Division.

No. 1:14CR00067‐003

Sarah Evans Barker,

Judge.

O R D E R

Gerardo Baltierra was caught trafficking cocaine in Indianapolis and later

pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess and distribute a controlled substance, see 21

U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1). The district court sentenced Baltierra to 188 months’

imprisonment. Baltierra’s plea agreement includes a broad appeal waiver, but he still

filed a notice of appeal. His appointed lawyer has moved to withdraw on the ground

that the appeal is frivolous. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). Counsel has

submitted a brief that explains the nature of the case and addresses potential issues that

an appeal of this kind might be expected to involve. Baltierra has not accepted our

invitation to comment on counsel’s motion. See CIR. R. 51(b). We limit our review to the

NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION

To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1

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No. 16‐1450    Page 2

potential issues that counsel discusses. See United States v. Bey, 748 F.3d 774, 776 (7th Cir.

2014); United States v. Wagner, 103 F.3d 551, 553 (7th Cir. 1996).

Counsel begins by noting that Baltierra has no interest in challenging his guilty

plea, and thus counsel appropriately forgoes any discussion of the adequacy of the plea

colloquy or the voluntariness of the plea. See United States v. Konczak, 683 F.3d 348, 349

(7th Cir. 2012); United States v. Knox, 287 F.3d 667, 670–71 (7th Cir. 2002). Counsel

considers challenging the length of Baltierra’s prison sentence but properly concludes

that to do so would be frivolous because the guilty plea is valid and thus, so is the

appeal waiver, see United States v. Zitt, 714 F.3d 511, 515 (7th Cir. 2013); United States v.

Sakellarion, 649 F.3d 634, 639 (7th Cir. 2011), and counsel has not identified any

exception that would apply here, see United States v. Adkins, 743 F.3d 176, 192–93

(7th Cir. 2014).   

Accordingly, we GRANT counsel’s motion to withdraw and DISMISS the appeal.

Case: 16-1450 Document: 37 Filed: 03/08/2017 Pages: 2