Court Opinion

ID: 9385305
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-06 16:00:28.366422+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:59.937298
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                             For the Eighth Circuit
                         ___________________________

                                 No. 22-2555
                         ___________________________

                             United States of America,

                                        Plaintiff Appellee,

                                          v.

                       Elmer Francis, also known as Nathan,

                                      Defendant Appellant.
                                   ____________

                      Appeal from United States District Court
                 for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville
                                  ____________

                             Submitted: March 27, 2023
                                Filed: April 6, 2023
                                   [Unpublished]
                                  ____________

Before COLLOTON, KELLY, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
                          ____________

PER CURIAM.

       Elmer Francis appeals a sentence imposed by the district court1 after he pleaded
guilty to a drug offense. His counsel has moved to withdraw and filed a brief under

      1
      The Honorable Timothy L. Books, United States District Judge for the
Western District of Arkansas.
Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging a four-level increase for role
in the offense under the sentencing guidelines, and questioning the reasonableness
of the sentence.

       We conclude that the district court did not clearly err in applying the increase
for role in the offense under USSG § 3B1.1. The undisputed facts in the presentence
report established that the drug trafficking organization involved five or more
participants. Francis admitted in the plea agreement that he was the head of the
organization and recruited two co-conspirators to travel with him to California to
obtain multiple pounds of methamphetamine. See USSG § 3B1.1(a); United States
v. Razo Guerra, 534 F.3d 970, 976-77 (8th Cir. 2008); United States v. Menteer, 408
F.3d 445, 446 (8th Cir. 2005) (per curiam). We also conclude that Francis’s sentence
was not unreasonable, as there is no indication that the district court overlooked a
relevant factor, gave significant weight to an improper or irrelevant factor, or
committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the relevant factors. See United
States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461-62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc).

       Francis has filed a pro se brief in which he argues that the presentence report
relied on a confidential source who provided inaccurate information to law
enforcement. But Francis withdrew his objections to most of the information in the
report, see Menteer, 408 F.3d at 446 (per curiam), and the district court specifically
stated that it would not take any disputed allegations into consideration for purposes
of sentencing. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(i)(3)(B).

      We have independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S.
75 (1988), and we find no non-frivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we affirm,
and we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.
                      ______________________________

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