United States v. Patrick Little

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 99-4624 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus PATRICK LEON LITTLE, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle Dis- trict of North Carolina, at Durham. James A. Beaty, Jr., District Judge. (CR-98-189) Submitted: March 20, 2000 Decided: April 3, 2000 Before WILKINS, NIEMEYER, and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Walter Thaniel Johnson, Jr., Juanita Boger Allen, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Walter C. Holton, Jr., United States At- torney, Robert A.J. Lang, Assistant United States Attorney, Greens- boro, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: Patrick Leon Little appeals from a 240-month sentence imposed following his guilty plea to possession with the intent to distrib- ute crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (1994). We have reviewed the briefs and the record and find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to permit Little to withdraw his plea. See United States v. Moore, 931 F.2d 245, 248 (4th Cir. 1991). We further find that, even assuming that a motion for the appointment of substitute counsel was properly pending before the district court, the court did not abuse its discretion when it did not continue the sentencing hearing and appoint substitute counsel. See United States v. Mullen, 32 F.3d 891, 895 (4th Cir. 1994). Ac- cordingly, we affirm Little’s conviction 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 2