Court Opinion

ID: 9894045
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-31 16:00:51.549862+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:08:29.755467
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                            For the Eighth Circuit
                        ___________________________

                                No. 22-3614
                        ___________________________

                            United States of America

                                      Plaintiff - Appellee

                                        v.

                           Dwayne Warren Gerard, Sr.

                                   Defendant - Appellant
                                 ____________

                     Appeal from United States District Court
                    for the District of North Dakota - Western
                                   ____________

                         Submitted: September 18, 2023
                            Filed: October 31, 2023
                                 [Unpublished]
                                ____________

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

PER CURIAM.

      Dwayne Gerard pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting children, 18 U.S.C.
§ 2251(a), (e). His only claim of error is that his sentence is substantively
unreasonable. He concedes that he waived his right to appeal in his plea agreement
but argues that enforcing the waiver would result in a miscarriage of justice. See
United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886, 889–90 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc). Although
the district court1 imposed a sentence two to three times greater than what the parties
recommended, it is still a below-Guidelines sentence. So enforcing the waiver
would not work a miscarriage of justice. See United States v. Pierre, 912 F.3d 1137,
1143–44 (8th Cir. 2019). We dismiss the appeal.
                        ______________________________

      1
        The Honorable Daniel L. Hovland, United States District Judge for the
District of North Dakota.
                                    -2-