UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-4543
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
WILLIAM LEON LASSITER, JR., a/k/a C.C.,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Malcom J. Howard,
Senior District Judge. (5:12-cr-00267-H-3)
Submitted: June 10, 2014 Decided: July 21, 2014
Before WYNN and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Rhonda G. Young, FITTS & YOUNG, LLP, Raleigh, North Carolina,
for Appellant. Thomas G. Walker, United States Attorney,
Jennifer P. May-Parker, Shailika K. Shah, Assistant United
States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
William Leon Lassiter, Jr., pled guilty pursuant to a
plea agreement to one count of conspiracy to distribute and
possess with intent to distribute twenty-eight grams or more of
cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(B), 846
(2012), and was sentenced to seventy-eight months in prison.
Although Lassiter’s plea agreement contained an appellate waiver
that has been invoked by the Government, Lassiter seeks to
challenge the reasonableness of his sentence, contending that
the appellate waiver is unenforceable because the Government
breached the plea agreement. We dismiss Lassiter’s appeal.
This court “will not enforce an otherwise valid appeal
waiver against a defendant if the government breached the plea
agreement containing that waiver[.]” United States v. Cohen,
459 F.3d 490, 495 (4th Cir. 2006). Because Lassiter did not
raise this issue in the district court, however, the issue is
reviewed for plain error. Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S.
129, 133–34 (2009). To prevail under this standard, Lassiter
must show not only that the Government plainly breached the plea
agreement, but also that he was prejudiced by the error and that
“the breach was so obvious and substantial that failure to
notice and correct it affected the fairness, integrity or public
reputation of the judicial proceedings.” United States v.
McQueen, 108 F.3d 64, 65–66 (4th Cir. 1997) (internal quotation
2
marks and brackets omitted); see United States v. Dawson, 587
F.3d 640, 645 (4th Cir. 2009).
After reviewing the record, we conclude that the
Government did not breach the plea agreement. Because Lassiter
does not challenge the knowing and voluntary nature of his
appellate waiver, and since we are satisfied that the waiver is
enforceable, we conclude that the waiver bars consideration of
the sentencing issues Lassiter seeks to raise.
We therefore dismiss Lassiter’s appeal. We dispense
with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately presented in the materials before this court and
argument would not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
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