Court Opinion

ID: 9385999
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-04-11 00:00:30.30668+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:33.321135
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50316        Document: 00516706306             Page: 1     Date Filed: 04/10/2023

             United States Court of Appeals
                  for the Fifth Circuit
                                     ____________
                                                                              United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                       Fifth Circuit
                                      No. 22-50316
                                    Summary Calendar                                 FILED
                                    ____________                                 April 10, 2023
                                                                                Lyle W. Cayce
   United States of America,                                                         Clerk

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                            versus

   Daniel Vesa,

                                              Defendant—Appellant.
                     ______________________________

                     Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Western District of Texas
                              USDC No. 5:19-CR-193-1
                     ______________________________

   Before Wiener, Elrod, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
         Defendant-Appellant Daniel Vesa pleaded guilty to production of
   child pornography and was sentenced to 360 months of imprisonment. He
   appeals, challenging the application of the five-level upward adjustment
   under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.5(b). The government seeks enforcement of the appeal
   waiver provision in Vesa’s plea agreement.

         _____________________
         *
             This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 22-50316        Document: 00516706306              Page: 2       Date Filed: 04/10/2023

                                          No. 22-50316

           We review de novo whether the appeal waiver in Vesa’s plea
   agreement bars this appeal. United States v. Keele, 755 F.3d 752, 754 (5th Cir.
   2014). Vesa does not challenge the validity of his guilty plea or plea
   agreement. See United States v. Bond, 414 F.3d 542, 544 (5th Cir. 2005).
   Although Vesa notes the reservation of various rights, the plea agreement’s
   wording plainly shows that those rights apply only before the imposition of a
   sentence and that he “waive[d] the right to appeal [his] conviction or
   sentence on any ground.” A review of the record reveals that the appeal
   waiver set forth in Vesa’s plea agreement applies to the issue in this case. See
   United States v. Martinez, 263 F.3d 436, 437–38 (5th Cir. 2001).
           DISMISSED. 1

           _____________________
           1
             Counsel for Vesa is CAUTIONED that pursuing an appeal contrary to a valid
   waiver and without responding to the government’s invocation of the waiver is a needless
   waste of judicial resources that could result in sanctions. See United States v. Gaitan, 171
   F.3d 223 (5th Cir. 1999).

                                                    2