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Parties Involved:
United States of America
Appellee
Cindy Vandivier
Appellant

Document Text:

[DO NOT PUBLISH]

In the

United States Court of Appeals

For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________

No. 23-13075

Non-Argument Calendar

____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

CINDY VANDIVIER, 

a.k.a. Madison Brooke, 

a.k.a. Madison Brookes, 

Defendant-Appellant.

____________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida

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2 Opinion of the Court 23-13075

D.C. Docket No. 0:21-cr-60101-RS-6

____________________

Before NEWSOM, BRANCH, and GRANT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Cindy Vandivier appeals her sentence for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The government moves for dismissal of 

the appeal based on the appeal waiver in her plea agreement. Neal 

Rosensweig, who was appointed as substitute counsel to represent 

Vandivier on appeal, moves to withdraw under Anders v. California, 

386 U.S. 738 (1967). We grant the government’s motion to dismiss 

and deny as moot Rosensweig’s motion to withdraw.

We will enforce a defendant’s sentence appeal waiver if the 

waiver was made knowingly and voluntarily. United States v. Bushert, 997 F.2d 1343, 1350 (11th Cir. 1993). The government can establish that an appeal waiver was knowing and voluntary by showing that the district court specifically discussed the waiver with the 

defendant during the plea colloquy and clearly conveyed to her 

that she was giving up her right to appeal under most circumstances. United States v. Boyd, 975 F.3d 1185, 1192 (11th Cir. 2020).

Here, Vandivier entered a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary guilty plea pursuant to a plea agreement containing a sentence 

appeal waiver. At the change-of-plea hearing, the district court 

conducted a plea colloquy under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of 

Criminal Procedure, confirming that Vandivier’s guilty plea was 

not coerced and that she understood the nature of the charges and 

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23-13075 Opinion of the Court 3

the consequences of her plea, including the sentence appeal waiver. 

See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b); Boyd, 975 F.3d at 1188 n.2. The court

questioned Vandivier about the plea agreement generally and 

about the appeal-waiver provision specifically, and she confirmed 

that she understood and agreed to the waiver.

Because we are satisfied that Vandivier’s sentence appeal 

waiver was knowingly and voluntarily made and none of the exceptions to the waiver apply, we GRANT the government’s motion to dismiss the appeal. We DENY AS MOOT Rosensweig’s 

Anders motion to withdraw as counsel.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

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