United States v. Jeremy Whitcher

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 11-1607 ___________ United States of America, * * Appellee, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * Western District of Missouri. Jeremy Michael Whitcher, * * [UNPUBLISHED] Appellant. * ___________ Submitted: July 5, 2011 Filed: July 8, 2011 ___________ Before LOKEN, MURPHY, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. Pursuant to a plea agreement containing an appeal waiver, Jeremy Whitcher pleaded guilty to making a false claim against the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287. The district court1 sentenced him to a 12-month prison term to run consecutively to his undischarged state sentences. Whitcher appeals. His counsel has moved to withdraw and filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), questioning whether the court abused its discretion in imposing a consecutive sentence. 1 The Honorable Richard E. Dorr, United States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri. We will enforce the appeal waiver. This appeal falls within the scope of the waiver; Whitcher’s testimony at the plea hearing shows that he entered into both the plea agreement and the waiver knowingly and voluntarily; and we conclude that enforcing the waiver will not result in a miscarriage of justice. See United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886, 889-92 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc). Having reviewed the record independently under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues not covered by the appeal waiver. Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and we dismiss the appeal. ______________________________ -2-