[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 12-10374

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 1:11-cv-02568-AT

DANIEL HARGROVE, 

 Plaintiff-Appellant,

 versus

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CORP., 

SECRETARY, US DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY, 

SECRETARY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, 

 Defendants-Appellees. 

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Northern District of Georgia

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(February 21, 2013)

Before CARNES, BARKETT and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

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Daniel Hargrove, a Georgia prisoner, appeals pro se the district court’s 

dismissal of his civil action as frivolous and for failure to state a claim, pursuant to 

28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). In the instant complaint, Hargrove alleged that (1) the 

government had made the citizens of the United States “assets” to keep the 

government afloat after it went bankrupt in 1933; (2) the Fourteenth Amendment 

was invalid; (3) the United States was a corporation; and (4) Hargrove was owed 

$400,000,000, because he became the “secured party” and “holder in due course of 

the preferred stock” of the United States. On appeal, Hargrove reiterates the

allegations from his complaint.

We review de novo the district court’s sua sponte dismissal of a complaint 

for failure to state a claim under § 1915A(b)(1), using the same standards that 

govern dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6). Leal v. 

Ga. Dep’t of Corr., 254 F.3d 1276, 1278-79 (11th Cir. 2001). Under § 1915A, the 

district court (1) shall review, either before docketing or as soon as practicable 

after docketing, a civil complaint brought by a prisoner against a government 

defendant, and (2) dismiss the complaint if it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to 

state a claim upon which relief may be granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), (b)(1). Pro 

se pleadings are held to a less strict standard than pleadings filed by lawyers and, 

thus, are construed liberally. Alba v. Montford, 517 F.3d 1249, 1252 (11th Cir. 

2008). A legal claim or argument that is not briefed on appeal is deemed 

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abandoned. Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines Co., 385 F.3d 1324, 1330 (11th 

Cir. 2004). 

To properly state a claim, a complaint must contain “a short and plain 

statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ.

P. 8(a)(2). In reviewing a court’s dismissal of a complaint, we must accept the 

factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most 

favorable to the plaintiff. Timson v. Sampson, 518 F.3d 870, 872 (11th Cir. 2008). 

However, the complaint must allege facts that, if true, “state a claim to relief that is 

plausible on its face,” and conclusory statements, without more, are insufficient. 

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L. Ed. 2d 868 

(2009) (quotation omitted).

Hargrove abandoned his claim on appeal by failing to raise any legal 

argument challenging the district court’s dismissal of his complaint. Even if 

Hargrove’s appellate brief could be construed as arguing that the district court 

erred in dismissing his complaint, Hargrove’s complaint contains nothing more 

than conclusory, facially implausible allegations; thus, the district court did not err 

in dismissing his complaint for failure to state a claim. 

AFFIRMED.

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