United States v. Carlos Harris

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 12-2200 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee v. Carlos Maurice Harris lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota - St. Paul ____________ Submitted: February 5, 2013 Filed: February 12, 2013 [Unpublished] ____________ Before LOKEN, MELLOY, and BENTON, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. Carlos Harris appeals the 300-month prison term the district court1 imposed after he pled guilty to a firearm-related charge. Harris’s counsel has moved to 1 The Honorable Richard H. Kyle, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota. withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), arguing that the sentence is unreasonable. Harris entered his guilty plea pursuant to a Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement, which set forth the parties’ agreement to a term of imprisonment of no less than 264 months and no greater than 360 months, and which contained Harris’s waiver of his right to appeal his sentence except if the court were to impose a prison term greater than 360 months. Upon careful review, this court concludes that the appeal waiver precludes Harris’s challenge to his sentence because (1) counsel’s argument falls squarely within the scope of the waiver, (2) the record shows that Harris entered into the plea agreement and the appeal waiver knowingly and voluntarily, and (3) 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) (setting forth criteria for enforcing appeal waiver); see also United States v. Azure, 571 F.3d 769, 772 (8th Cir. 2008) (de novo review of whether defendant waived appeal right). Finally, having independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), this court finds no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. Counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted, and the appeal is dismissed. ______________________________ -2-