Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-03156/USCOURTS-ca8-06-03156-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Raul Chavez-Rios
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Mark W. Bennett, United States District Judge for the Northern

District of Iowa.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 06-3156

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Northern District of Iowa.

Raul Chavez-Rios, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: September 6, 2007

Filed: September 14, 2007

___________

Before BYE, RILEY, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Raul Chavez-Rios (Chavez-Rios) pled guilty to conspiring to distribute

methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1),

(b)(1)(A), (b)(1)(B), 860(a), and 846 (Count 1); and distributing methamphetamine

within 1,000 feet of a park, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and

860(a) (Counts 2-4). Chavez-Rios acknowledged before entering his plea that he was

subject to a statutory mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison on Count 1. The

district court1

 sentenced Chavez-Rios to the statutory minimum 120 months’

Appellate Case: 06-3156 Page: 1 Date Filed: 09/14/2007 Entry ID: 3351666
-2-

imprisonment and 5 years’ supervised release with the sentences on the counts to run

concurrently. On appeal, Chavez-Rios’s counsel filed a brief pursuant to Anders v.

California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), arguing the sentence is unreasonable under United

States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005). This argument is unavailing. Because

Chavez-Rios did not qualify for a substantial-assistance departure or for safety-valve

relief, the district court had no authority to impose a sentence below the statutory

minimum. See United States v. Gregg, 451 F.3d 930, 937 (8th Cir. 2006); United

States v. Chacon, 330 F.3d 1065, 1066 (8th Cir. 2003).

After reviewing the record independently under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75,

80 (1988), we have found no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. We grant counsel leave

to withdraw, and we affirm.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 06-3156 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/14/2007 Entry ID: 3351666