United States v. Richard Lawrence

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. No. 98-4512 RICHARD L. LAWRENCE, III, Defendant-Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke. Samuel G. Wilson, Chief District Judge. (CR-97-94) Submitted: March 23, 1999 Decided: September 23, 1999 Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges. _________________________________________________________________ Dismissed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion. _________________________________________________________________ COUNSEL Jeffrey L. Dorsey, Salem, Virginia, for Appellant. Robert P. Crouch, Jr., United States Attorney, Karen B. Peters, Assistant United States Attorney, Jennifer Haynes, Third Year Law Intern, Roanoke, Vir- ginia, for Appellee. _________________________________________________________________ Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). _________________________________________________________________ OPINION PER CURIAM Richard L. Lawrence appeals his sentence for mail fraud, in viola- tion of 18 U.S.C. § 1341 (1994), and money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (1994). Lawrence asserts the sentencing court abused its discretion by denying him a reduction in his sentence for acceptance of responsibility under U. S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 3E1.1 (1997). Lawrence voluntarily signed a plea agree- ment in which he unambiguously waived his right to appeal Sentenc- ing Guidelines issues. We accordingly find that Lawrence knowingly and intelligently waived his right to challenge the district court's dis- cretionary decision denying a sentencing reduction for acceptance of responsibility. See United States v. Marin, 961 F.2d 493, 496 (4th Cir. 1992). We grant Lawrence's motion to file a pro se supplemental brief and his motion to file a pro se reply brief. A review of the briefs, the record, and the applicable law reveal that the issues Lawrence raises are substantially meritless. However, Lawrence is correct that the dis- trict court's oral pronouncement of his sentence conflicted with its written judgment. Therefore, the district court should amend its writ- ten judgment to reflect its oral pronouncement that Lawrence was sentenced to prison terms of fifty months on each of the two counts to which he pled guilty, to be served concurrently, not fifty-five months' imprisonment. See United States v. Morse , 344 F.2d 27, 29- 30 (4th Cir. 1965). We remand to the district court for that limited purpose. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 36. Accordingly, we dismiss Lawrence's appeal as to all Sentencing Guidelines issues because such issues are waived in his plea agree- ment. We affirm Lawrence's convictions and sentence to the extent he asserts issues other than Sentencing Guidelines issues. Finally, we remand to the district court for the limited purpose of correcting the 2 clerical error in its written judgment so it conforms with the oral pro- nouncement of sentence. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented before the court and argument would not aid in the decisional process. DISMISSED IN PART, AFFIRMED IN PART, AND REMANDED 3