UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 10-4252
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
EDWARD MCCAIN,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Charleston. Patrick Michael Duffy, Senior
District Judge. (2:09-cr-00296-PMD-2)
Submitted: December 20, 2010 Decided: February 28, 2011
Before WILKINSON, DAVIS, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Timothy C. Kulp, KULP LAW OFFICE, Charleston, South Carolina,
for Appellant. Peter Thomas Phillips, Assistant United States
Attorney, Charleston, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Edward McCain pled guilty, pursuant to a written plea
agreement, to three offenses in his superseding indictment.
McCain received a life sentence for tampering with a witness,
victim or informant (murder) in violation of 18 U.S.C.
§§ 1512(a)(1)(C) and 2 (2006) (Count 1), a thirty-year
concurrent sentence for tampering with a witness, victim, or
informant (attempted murder) (Count 2), and another life
sentence for using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a
drug trafficking crime and crime of violence in violation of 18
U.S.C.A. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i) (West Supp. 2010), 18 U.S.C.
§§ 924(j) and 2 (2006) (Count 5).
On appeal, counsel filed a brief pursuant to Anders v.
California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), asserting there are no
meritorious grounds for appeal, but raising the following
issues: (1) whether the district court erred in accepting
McCain’s plea, and (2) whether the district court erred in
sentencing him. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
First, we find no plain error at McCain’s sentencing
hearing. See United States v. Martinez, 277 F.3d 517, 524, 527
(4th Cir. 2002) (providing review standard when defendant did
not move in the district court to withdraw his guilty plea).
Second, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s
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sentencing of McCain. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 49
(2007). We note that McCain’s life sentences were mandated by
statute. See 18 U.S.C. § 1111(b) (2006) (penalty for first
degree murder is death or a life sentence); 18 U.S.C. § 924(j)
(penalty for use of a firearm which causes death is a sentence
of death or life imprisonment). McCain was not eligible for a
sentence of death, however, because he was a minor at the time
of the offenses. See 18 U.S.C. § 3591(a) (2006) (noting “that
no person may be sentenced to death who was less than 18 years
of age at the time of the offense”).
In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the record
in this case, including the issues raised in McCain’s pro se
supplemental brief, and have found no meritorious issues for
appeal. We therefore affirm McCain’s convictions and sentence.
This court requires that counsel inform McCain, in writing, of
the right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for
further review. If McCain 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 McCain.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
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before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
process.
AFFIRMED
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