United States v. Sluss

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  No. 01-4710 JAMES DAVID SLUSS, a/k/a J.D., Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Beckley. David A. Faber, District Judge. (CR-00-185) Submitted: April 9, 2002 Decided: May 9, 2002 Before WIDENER and MOTZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. COUNSEL G. Ernest Skaggs, SKAGGS & SKAGGS, Fayetteville, West Vir- ginia, for Appellant. Kasey Warner, United States Attorney, Monica K. Schwartz, Assistant United States Attorney, Charleston, West Vir- ginia, for Appellee. 2 UNITED STATES v. SLUSS Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). OPINION PER CURIAM: James David Sluss pled guilty to use of a telephone in the commis- sion of a drug trafficking felony, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) (1994). He appeals his sentence. Sluss’ attorney has filed a brief cit- ing Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), contending the district court erred in determining Sluss’ relevant conduct but stating that, in his view, there are no meritorious issues for appeal. Sluss has filed a pro se supplemental brief. We review the district court’s factual findings regarding the appli- cation of the federal sentencing guidelines for clear error. United States v. Williams, 977 F.2d 866, 869 (4th Cir. 1992); United States v. Daughtrey, 874 F.2d 213, 217 (4th Cir. 1989). We find the district court did not clearly error in determining Sluss’ relevant conduct. See United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 1B1.3(a)(2) (2000). We have also reviewed Sluss’ supplemental brief and find his claims meritless. In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record and find no meritorious issues for appeal. We therefore affirm Sluss’ con- viction and sentence. We deny Sluss’ motions to relieve his counsel and to appoint him new counsel. This court requires that counsel inform his client, in writing, of his right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If the client requests that a petition be filed, but counsel believes such a petition would be frivo- lous, then counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must state that a copy thereof was served on the client. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal conten- tions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED