UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-4577
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
CARLOS DAVID SORIANO-ENRIQUEZ,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Durham. James A. Beaty, Jr.,
Chief District Judge. (1:07-cr-00136-JAB-4)
Submitted: March 12, 2009 Decided: March 16, 2009
Before MOTZ and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
J. Clark Fischer, RANDOLPH AND FISCHER, Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, for Appellant. Randall Stuart Galyon, OFFICE OF THE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Angela Hewlet Miller, Assistant United
States Attorney, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Carlos David Soriano-Enriquez appeals from his
convictions for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and
possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
crime and his resulting 180-month sentence. On appeal,
Soriano-Enriquez’s attorney has filed an Anders * brief,
concluding that there are no meritorious issues on appeal, but
questioning whether Soriano-Enriquez’s indictment was defective,
plea was knowing and intelligent, and sentence was proper.
Although informed of his right to do so, Soriano-Enriquez has
not filed a pro se supplemental brief. We affirm.
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 7(c) requires an
indictment to be “a plain, concise, and definite written
statement of the essential facts constituting the offense
charged.” The subject indictment tracked the statutory
language, cited the charging statute, and gave Soriano-Enriquez
adequate notice of the crimes with which he was charged.
Accordingly, the indictment was not defective. See Hamling v.
United States, 418 U.S. 87, 117 (1974); United States v. Fogel,
901 F.2d 23, 25 (4th Cir. 1990).
Because Soriano-Enriquez did not move in the district
court to withdraw his guilty plea, any challenge to the
*
Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).
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propriety of the Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 hearing is reviewed for
plain error. United States v. Martinez, 277 F.3d 517, 527 (4th
Cir. 2002). Our review of the plea hearing transcript reveals
that the district court conducted a thorough Rule 11 colloquy,
ensuring that Soriano-Enriquez’s plea was knowing and voluntary
and that there was an independent factual basis for the plea.
Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b); United States v. DeFusco, 949 F.2d 114,
116-20 (4th Cir. 1991). Accordingly, we find no error in the
district court’s acceptance of Soriano-Enriquez’s plea.
The district court sentenced Soriano-Enriquez to the
statutory minimum on each count—120 months on the conspiracy
charge and a 60-month consecutive sentence on the firearms
charge. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) (2006) (ten-year minimum
sentence for offenses involving 500 grams or more of a
methamphetamine mixture); 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (2006) (five
year minimum sentence on firearm charge). In the absence of a
Government motion for a departure, the district court lacked
authority to sentence Soriano-Enriquez below the statutory
minimum. See United States v. Robinson, 404 F.3d 850, 862 (4th
Cir. 2005). Accordingly, we conclude that the sentence was
reasonable.
In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the record
in this case and have found no meritorious issues for appeal.
We therefore affirm Soriano-Enriquez’s convictions and sentence.
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This court requires that counsel inform Soriano-Enriquez, in
writing, of the right to petition the Supreme Court of the
United States for further review. If Soriano-Enriquez 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 Soriano-Enriquez.
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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