US v. William Lassiter, Jr., No. 13-4543 (4th Cir. 2014)
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UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 13-4543 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. WILLIAM LEON LASSITER, JR., a/k/a C.C., Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Malcom J. Howard, Senior District Judge. (5:12-cr-00267-H-3) Submitted: June 10, 2014 Decided: July 21, 2014 Before WYNN and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Rhonda G. Young, FITTS & for Appellant. Thomas Jennifer P. May-Parker, States Attorneys, Raleigh, YOUNG, LLP, Raleigh, North Carolina, G. Walker, United States Attorney, Shailika K. Shah, Assistant United North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: William Leon Lassiter, Jr., pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute twenty-eight grams or more of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. ยงยง 841(b)(1)(B), 846 (2012), and was sentenced to seventy-eight months in prison. Although Lassiter s plea agreement contained an appellate waiver that has been invoked by the Government, Lassiter seeks to challenge the reasonableness of his sentence, contending that the appellate waiver is unenforceable breached the plea agreement. because the Government We dismiss Lassiter s appeal. This court will not enforce an otherwise valid appeal waiver against a defendant if the government breached the plea agreement containing that waiver[.] United States v. Cohen, 459 F.3d 490, 495 (4th Cir. 2006). Because Lassiter did not raise this issue in the district court, however, the issue is reviewed for plain error. 129, 133 34 (2009). Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. To prevail under this standard, Lassiter must show not only that the Government plainly breached the plea agreement, but also that he was prejudiced by the error and that the breach was so obvious and substantial that failure to notice and correct it affected the fairness, integrity or public reputation of the judicial proceedings. United States v. McQueen, 108 F.3d 64, 65 66 (4th Cir. 1997) (internal quotation 2 marks and brackets omitted); see United States v. Dawson, 587 F.3d 640, 645 (4th Cir. 2009). After reviewing the record, we conclude Government did not breach the plea agreement. does not challenge the knowing and voluntary that the Because Lassiter nature of his appellate waiver, and since we are satisfied that the waiver is enforceable, we conclude that the waiver bars consideration of the sentencing issues Lassiter seeks to raise. We therefore dismiss Lassiter s appeal. 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. DISMISSED 3
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