US v. Willie Myers, Jr., No. 10-4481 (4th Cir. 2010)

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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 10-4481 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. WILLIE MYERS, JR., a/k/a Junior, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Florence. R. Bryan Harwell, District Judge. (4:08-cr-01072-RBH-7) Submitted: November 17, 2010 Decided: December 10, 2010 Before DUNCAN, DAVIS, and WYNN, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. J. Rafael Rodriguez, Miami, Florida, for Appellant. Bradley Parham, Rose Mary Sheppard Parham, Assistant States Attorneys, Florence, South Carolina, for Appellee. Arthur United Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: Appellant Willie Myers, Jr. pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute kilograms or fifty more or more of grams cocaine, of in §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A) (2006). cocaine violation base of and 21 five U.S.C. The district court sentenced Myers to 240 months imprisonment. Myers timely appealed. Myers attorney has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. adequacy California, of Myers reasonableness of 386 Fed. Myers U.S. R. 738 Crim. sentence. (1967), P. 11 questioning hearing and states, however, Counsel that he has found no meritorious grounds for appeal. received notice of his right to brief, but did not file one. file a the pro se the Myers supplemental Because we find no meritorious grounds for appeal, we affirm. First, Myers questions whether the district adequately advised him during his Rule 11 hearing. court Prior to accepting a guilty plea, a district court must conduct a plea colloquy in which it informs the defendant of, and determines that the defendant comprehends, the nature of the charge to which he is pleading guilty, any mandatory minimum penalty, the maximum possible relinquishing by penalty pleading he faces, guilty. and Fed. the R. rights Crim. P. he is 11(b); United States v. DeFusco, 949 F.2d 114, 116 (4th Cir. 1991). In reviewing the adequacy of compliance 2 with Rule 11, this Court should accord deference to the trial court s decision as to how best defendant. to conduct the mandated colloquy with the DeFusco, 949 F.2d at 116. We have thoroughly reviewed the record in this case, and conclude that the district court complied with the mandates of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 in accepting Myers guilty plea. basis for The record affirmatively shows there was a factual Myers plea, Myers understood the constitutional rights he waived in pleading guilty, and Myers guilty plea was knowing and voluntary. Next, sentence. Myers challenges the reasonableness of his This court reviews a district court s sentence for reasonableness under an abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007); see also United States v. Pauley, 511 F.3d 468, 473-74 (4th Cir. 2007). defendant, a district court must: When sentencing a (1) properly calculate the Guidelines range; (2) determine whether a sentence within that range serves the factors set out in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2006); (3) implement mandatory statutory limitations; and (4) explain its reasons for selecting a sentence. In the Fourth Sentencing Circuit, Guidelines [a] range Pauley, 511 F.3d at 473. sentence is within presumptively the proper reasonable. United States v. Allen, 491 F.3d 178, 193 (4th Cir. 2007); see also Rita v. United States, 551 3 U.S. 338, 347-56 (2007) (upholding presumption of reasonableness for a within-Guidelines sentence). Here, the district court followed procedural steps in sentencing Myers. the necessary It properly calculated the Guidelines sentence, meaningfully considered the arguments of counsel in light of the § 3553(a) factors, and sentenced Myers to the mandatory minimum sentence for his crime. Hence, we determine that the sentence imposed by the district court was reasonable. In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the record in this case and have found no meritorious issues for appeal. We therefore affirm the district court s judgment. This court requires that counsel inform Myers, in writing, of the right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If Myers requests that a petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may move in representation. this court for leave to withdraw from Counsel s motion must state that a copy thereof was served on Myers. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal before contentions the court are adequately and argument presented would not in aid the the materials decisional process. AFFIRMED 4

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