United States v. Raymond Ramirez

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 03-1392 ___________ United States of America, * * Appellee, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * Southern District of Iowa. Raymond J. Ramirez, * * [UNPUBLISHED] Appellant. * ___________ Submitted: September 19, 2003 Filed: September 29, 2003 ___________ Before RILEY, HANSEN, and SMITH, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. Pursuant to a written plea agreement, Raymond Ramirez (Ramirez) pled guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(b)(1)(B). The district court1 sentenced Ramirez to 120 months imprisonment and 8 years supervised release. On appeal, Ramirez’s counsel has moved to withdraw and filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), arguing the government unreasonably refused to file a motion for a downward departure based upon Ramirez’s substantial assistance. 1 The Honorable James E. Gritzner, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. In the plea agreement, however, Ramirez waived his right to appeal, with limited exceptions not applicable here. After carefully reviewing the record, we conclude Ramirez’s challenge to his sentence is within the scope of the waiver, he entered into the plea agreement knowingly and voluntarily, and no miscarriage of justice would result from enforcing the waiver. See United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886, 889-91 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc). Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw. ______________________________ -2-