United States v. Keyessence Fountain

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 14-2176 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee v. Keyessence Fountain lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - Cape Girardeau ____________ Submitted: December 2, 2014 Filed: December 5, 2014 [Unpublished] ____________ Before GRUENDER, BENTON, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Keyessence Fountain directly appeals after she pled guilty to robbery and firearm charges, and the district court1 sentenced her below the calculated Guidelines 1 The Honorable Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. range. Her counsel has moved to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), acknowledging an appeal waiver in Fountain’s plea agreement. After careful de novo review, we enforce the appeal waiver, because the record shows Fountain entered into both the plea agreement and the waiver knowingly and voluntarily, and no miscarriage of justice would result from enforcing the waiver. See United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886, 889-92 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc) (court should enforce appeal waiver and dismiss appeal where it falls within scope of waiver, plea agreement and waiver were entered into knowingly and voluntarily, and no miscarriage of justice would result); see also United States v. Scott, 627 F.3d 702, 704 (8th Cir. 2010) (standard of review); Nguyen v. United States, 114 F.3d 699, 703 (8th Cir. 1997) (defendant’s statements made during plea hearing carry strong presumption of verity). Having independently reviewed the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues outside the scope of the appeal waiver. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal, and we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw, subject to counsel informing Fountain about the procedures for seeking rehearing or filing a petition for certiorari. ______________________________ -2-