UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 99-4481
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
WILBERT EMMETTE WILKINS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis-
trict of Virginia, at Alexandria. T.S. Ellis, III, District Judge.
(CR-99-8)
Submitted: January 20, 2000 Decided: February 1, 2000
Before WILLIAMS, MICHAEL, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Joseph J. McCarthy, DELANEY, MCCARTHY, COLTON & BOTZIN, P.C.,
Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Helen F. Fahey, United States
Attorney, Andrew McKenna, Special Assistant United States Attorney,
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Wilbert Emmette Wilkins was convicted by a jury and sentenced
to eighty-six months in prison for possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 922(g)(1) (West
Supp. 1999) and fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer, in
violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 13 (West Supp. 1999)(assimilating Va.
Code. Ann. § 46.2-817 (Michie Supp. 1999)). Wilkins, an African-
American, contends that the Government’s peremptory strike of an
African-American venire person was racially discriminatory.
We conclude that the court did not clearly err in finding the
Government’s peremptory challenge was based upon racially neutral
factors and was not pretext for discrimination. See Batson v. Ken-
tucky, 476 U.S. 79, 96-97 (1986); United States v. Grimmond, 137
F.3d 823, 834-35 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 119 S. Ct. 124 (1998)
(noting that Government’s reason need not be persuasive or
plausible, just neutral).
Accordingly, we affirm Wilkins’ convictions and sentence. We
dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions
are adequately presented in the materials before the court and
argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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