FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
May 22, 2009
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee, No. 08-2199
v. (D. NM)
RUBEN PACHECO-SOTO, (D.C. No. 2:08-CR-00746-MCA-1)
Defendant - Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before HARTZ, EBEL, and O’BRIEN, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this panel has
determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the
determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G).
Therefore, this case is ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited,
however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th
Cir. R. 32.1.
Ruben Pacheco-Soto pled guilty in the United States District Court for the
District of New Mexico to one count of reentry of a removed alien. 1 See 8 U.S.C.
§§ 1326(a)(1) & (2), (b)(2). The district court sentenced him to 60 months
imprisonment, which was below the advisory guideline range of 77 to 96 months.
Finding no meritorious issues for appeal, his appointed counsel submitted an
Anders brief and a motion for leave to withdraw. See Anders v. California, 386
U.S. 738 (1967). Because we agree with counsel that there are no meritorious
issues for appeal, we grant the motion to withdraw and dismiss the appeal.
A careful review of the record reveals Pacheco-Soto was given notice of his
right to respond to counsel’s Anders brief on two occasions. He did not do so.
Nonetheless, we review the voluntariness of a plea de novo. United States v.
Asch, 207 F.3d 1238, 1242 (10th Cir. 2000). An English language deficiency is
not at issue because Pacheco-Soto was supplied an official interpreter at the plea
hearing. During a thorough colloquy, he explicitly stated he understood the
nature of the charges against him and the consequences of his guilty plea, which
the court found was knowing and voluntary. Prior to the sentencing hearing, an
official interpreter read the entire presentence report to Pacheco-Soto. He raised
no objection to the presentence report which properly calculated his advisory
1
Pacheco-Soto did not enter into a plea agreement and, therefore, did not
waive his right to appeal his sentence.
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guideline range. Ultimately, Pacheco-Soto was sentenced to a term of
imprisonment 17 months below the guideline range.
We conclude that Pacheco-Soto’s guilty plea was knowing and voluntary
and his sentence was reasonable. We GRANT counsel’s motion to withdraw and
DISMISS the appeal.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Terrence O’Brien
Circuit Judge
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