United States v. Angel Perez-Abarca, No. 08-2655 (8th Cir. 2009)
Annotate this CaseCourt Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. Anders case. Sentence was not unreasonable as the district court imposed the mandatory minimum and defendant failed to show he was eligible for safety-valve sentencing; ineffective assistance of counsel claim should be raised in a habeas.
Download PDF
United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 08-2655 ___________ United States of America, Appellee, v. Angel Perez-Abarca, Appellant. * * * * Appeal from the United States * District Court for the Northern * District of Iowa. * * [UNPUBLISHED] * ___________ Submitted: October 14, 2009 Filed: November 5, 2009 ___________ Before MURPHY, COLLOTON, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. Angel Perez-Abarca appeals from the 120-month prison sentence the district court imposed after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine, and 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846. Counsel has moved to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), raising as a potential issue that the sentence was unduly harsh. 1 1 The Honorable Mark W. Bennett, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa. Abarca has filed a pro se supplemental brief suggesting that his counsel was ineffective. Reviewing the sentence for abuse of discretion, we must first ensure that there were no significant procedural errors, and then consider the substantive reasonableness of the sentence. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc). We conclude that the district court committed no procedural error. We further conclude that the sentence is not unreasonable, because 120 months was the statutory minimum and Abarca did not demonstrate that he was eligible for safety-valve relief. See United States v. Gregg, 451 F.3d 930, 937 (8th Cir. 2006) (district court s lack of discretion to impose non-Guidelines sentence below statutory minimum); United States v. Warford, 439 F.3d 836, 844 (8th Cir. 2006) (defendant s burden of showing eligibility for safety-valve relief). Further, Abarca must pursue his ineffective-assistance claims in a proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See United States v. Lewis, 483 F.3d 871, 873 n.2 (8th Cir. 2007). Having reviewed the record independently under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80 (1988), we have found no non-frivolous issue for appeal. Accordingly, we affirm the district court s judgment, and we grant counsel s motion to withdraw, subject to counsel informing appellant about procedures for seeking rehearing and filing a petition for certiorari. ______________________________ -2-
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
