UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 04-4775
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
DONALD RAY LOCKLEAR,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. James C. Fox, Senior
District Judge. (CR-04-37)
Submitted: August 12, 2005 Decided: September 22, 2005
Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and KING, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Vaughan S. Winborne, Jr., Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Frank DeArmon Whitney, United States Attorney, Anne Margaret Hayes,
Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Donald Ray Locklear pled guilty to possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)
(2000). He was sentenced to 157 months of imprisonment. Locklear
appeals his sentence. In light of the appellate waiver provision
in his plea agreement, we dismiss the appeal.
Locklear argues the district court erred in finding he
was an armed career criminal and applying enhancements to his
sentence based on judicially found facts in violation of Blakely v.
Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), and United States v. Booker, 125
S. Ct. 738 (2005). Locklear waived the right to appeal his
sentence as part of his plea agreement. Locklear does not argue
that his appeal waiver was not knowing and voluntary in light of
Booker and, even if he had set forth such argument, we have
recently held that a waiver of the right to appeal as part of a
plea agreement that was accepted prior to the Supreme Court’s
decision in Booker is not invalidated by the change in law
effectuated by that decision. See United States v. Blick, 408 F.3d
162 (4th Cir. 2005); see also United States v. Johnson, 410 F.3d
137 (4th Cir. 2005). Moreover Locklear’s challenge to the
constitutionality of his sentence in light of Booker and Blakely
falls within the scope of the waiver provision. Accordingly, we
grant the Government’s motion.
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We have examined the entire record and find no other
meritorious issues for appeal. 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 that such
a petition would be frivolous, 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 contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument
would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
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