UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 18-4559

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

RASHAUN SCOTT CARTER,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at 

Beckley. David A. Faber, Senior District Judge. (5:18-cr-00054-1)

Submitted: September 3, 2019 Decided: September 13, 2019

Before WILKINSON and RUSHING, Circuit Judges, and TRAXLER, Senior Circuit 

Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Troy N. Giatras, THE GIATRAS LAW FIRM, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, for 

Appellant. Michael B. Stuart, United States Attorney, Charleston, West Virginia,

Timothy D. Boggess, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED 

STATES ATTORNEY, Beckley, West Virginia, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:

Rashaun Scott Carter pled guilty pursuant to a written plea agreement to conspiracy 

to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, 28 grams or more of 

cocaine base, and distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 100 grams of 

heroin, a quantity of cocaine, and a quantity of fentanyl. The district court sentenced

Carter to 121 months’ imprisonment and 5 years of supervised release.

On appeal, Carter challenges the calculation of his drug weight, the quantity of drugs 

attributed to him, and the application of a three-level enhancement for his managerial role. 

The government contends that the claims are barred by the appellate waiver in Carter’s 

plea agreement. We review de novo the validity of an appeal waiver. United States v. 

Copeland, 707 F.3d 522, 528 (4th Cir. 2013). We will enforce a waiver if it is valid and 

the issue appealed falls within the scope of the waiver. United States v. Davis, 689 F.3d 

349, 355 (4th Cir. 2012) (per curiam). A waiver is valid if it is knowing and voluntary, 

considering the totality of the circumstances. Copeland, 707 F.3d at 528. Carter does not 

dispute the validity of his appeal waiver, and upon review of the record, we conclude that 

Carter’s appellate waiver was both knowing and voluntary. See United States v. 

Thornsbury, 670 F.3d 532, 537 (4th Cir. 2012). We further find that Carter’s claims fall 

squarely within the scope of his valid appeal waiver, foreclosingreview.

Carter next asserts that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the 

disparate treatment of cocaine base and cocaine powder. While the appeal waiver does not 

preclude this claim, we do not consider ineffective assistance claims on direct appeal 

“[u]nless an attorney’s ineffectiveness conclusively appears on the face of the record.”
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United States v. Faulls, 821 F.3d 502, 507 (4th Cir. 2016). As the record does not

conclusively establish that trial counsel was ineffective, this claim should be raised, if at 

all, in a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012) motion. See id. at 507-08.

Accordingly, we dismiss Carter’s appeal. We dispense with oral argument because 

the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court 

and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED