United States v. William Abel Yates

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 16-6785 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. WILLIAM ABEL YATES, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. William L. Osteen, Jr., Chief District Judge. (1:98-cr-00095-JAB-1) Submitted: May 25, 2017 Decided: May 30, 2017 Before MOTZ, THACKER, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. William Abel Yates, Appellant Pro Se. Robert Michael Hamilton, Michael Francis Joseph, Angela Hewlett Miller, Assistant United States Attorneys, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM: William Abel Yates seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his motion for a sentence reduction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) (2012) and Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guidelines. While this appeal was pending, Yates received a presidential commutation. The commutation renders Yates’ appeal moot. See United States v. Surratt, F.3d , No. 14-6851, 2017 WL 1423296 (4th Cir. Apr. 21, 2017) (dismissed as moot following en banc argument). Accordingly, we deny Yates’ motion to vacate and remand and dismiss this 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 2