Court Opinion

ID: 9381122
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-21 21:01:02.67503+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:30.125053
License: Public Domain

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                                             UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                               No. 22-4248

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                             Plaintiff - Appellee,

                      v.

        BARBARA ANN THOMAS,

                             Defendant - Appellant.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, at
        Elkins. Thomas S. Kleeh, Chief District Judge. (2:21-cr-00016-TSK-MJA-4)

        Submitted: March 16, 2023                                         Decided: March 20, 2023

        Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

        Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        ON BRIEF: Diana Stavroulakis, Weirton, West Virginia, for Appellant. Stephen Donald
        Warner, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
        ATTORNEY, Elkins, West Virginia, for Appellee.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

                  Barbara Ann Thomas pleaded guilty, pursuant to a written plea agreement, to

        possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.

        § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). The district court sentenced her to 151 months’ imprisonment, the

        bottom of the applicable advisory Sentencing Guidelines range. Counsel has filed a brief

        pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating that there are no meritorious

        grounds for appeal but questioning whether Thomas’ guilty plea is valid, whether Thomas’

        sentence is procedurally and substantively reasonable, and whether the appellate waiver

        provision in Thomas’ plea agreement is enforceable. Although notified of her right to do

        so, Thomas has not filed a pro se supplemental brief. The Government declined to file a

        brief and has not moved to enforce the appeal waiver in Thomas’ plea agreement. ∗ We

        affirm.

                  Prior to accepting a guilty plea, the district court, through a colloquy with the

        defendant, must inform the defendant of, and determine that the defendant understands, the

        charge to which the plea is offered, any mandatory minimum penalty, the maximum

        possible penalty she faces upon conviction, and the various rights she is relinquishing by

        pleading guilty. Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b). The district court also must ensure that the

        defendant’s plea was voluntary, was supported by a sufficient factual basis, and did not

        result from force or threats, or promises not contained in the plea agreement. Fed. R. Crim.

                 Because the Government has not moved to enforce the appellate waiver, we
                  ∗

        conduct a full review pursuant to Anders. See United States v. Poindexter, 492 F.3d 263,
        271 (4th Cir. 2007).

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        P. 11(b)(2), (3). In reviewing the adequacy of the court’s compliance with Rule 11, we

        “accord deference to the trial court’s decision as to how best to conduct the mandated

        colloquy with the defendant.”        United States v. Moussaoui, 591 F.3d 263, 295

        (4th Cir. 2010) (internal quotation marks omitted).

               Because Thomas did not move in the district court to withdraw her guilty plea, we

        review the validity of her guilty plea for plain error. United States v. Williams, 811 F.3d

        621, 622 (4th Cir. 2016). To establish plain error, Thomas must establish that “(1) an error

        was made; (2) the error is plain; (3) the error affects substantial rights; and (4) the error

        seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.”

        United States v. Harris, 890 F.3d 480, 491 (4th Cir. 2018) (internal quotation marks

        omitted). In the guilty plea context, a defendant meets his burden to establish that a plain

        error affected her substantial rights by showing a reasonable probability that she would not

        have pled guilty but for the district court’s Rule 11 omissions. United States v. Sanya, 774

        F.3d 812, 815-16 (4th Cir. 2014). We have reviewed the Rule 11 colloquy and, discerning

        no plain error, we conclude that Thomas’ guilty plea is valid.

               “We review the reasonableness of a sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) using an

        abuse-of-discretion standard, regardless of ‘whether [the sentence is] inside, just outside,

        or significantly outside the [Sentencing] Guidelines range.’” United States v. Nance, 957

        F.3d 204, 212 (4th Cir. 2020) (first alteration in original) (quoting Gall v. United States,

        552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007)). In performing that review, we must first determine whether the

        district court “committed any procedural error, such as improperly calculating the

        Guidelines range, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, or failing to adequately explain

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        the chosen sentence.” Id. If “the district court has not committed procedural error,” we

        then assess the substantive reasonableness of the sentence.            Id.   Our substantive

        reasonableness review “takes into account the totality of the circumstances to determine

        whether the sentencing court abused its discretion in concluding that the sentence it chose

        satisfied the standards set forth in § 3553(a).” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “Any

        sentence that is within or below a properly calculated Guidelines range is presumptively

        [substantively] reasonable. Such a presumption can only be rebutted by showing that the

        sentence is unreasonable when measured against the . . . § 3553(a) factors.”         United

        States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir. 2014) (citation omitted).

               We are satisfied that Thomas’ sentence of imprisonment is procedurally reasonable.

        Our review of the record confirms that the district court properly calculated the advisory

        Guidelines range to be 151 to 188 months’ imprisonment, considered the § 3553(a) factors,

        addressed Thomas’ mitigation arguments, and sufficiently explained the reasons for the

        sentence imposed. We also conclude that nothing in the record rebuts the presumption of

        substantive reasonableness afforded to Thomas’ 151-month sentence.

               In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record in this case and have

        found no meritorious grounds for appeal. We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment.

        This court requires that counsel inform Thomas, in writing, of the right to petition the

        Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If Thomas requests that a petition

        be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may

        move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must state

        that a copy thereof was served on Thomas.

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              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.

                                                                                  AFFIRMED

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