United States v. Strahan , 598 F. App'x 597 ( 2015 )

FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
TENTH CIRCUIT March 17, 2015
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
No. 14-7062
v. (D.C. No. 6:13-CR-00046-RAW-1)
(E.D. Okla.)
JIMMY DALE STRAHAN,
Defendant - Appellant.
ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL
Before MATHESON, O'BRIEN, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.
Jimmy Dale Strahan fraudulently enticed several individuals to invest in his
saltwater disposal company.1 But, instead of using the money to further the business, he
used it for his own personal pleasures, namely to feed his gambling addiction. He pled
guilty (without the benefit of a plea agreement) to one count of wire fraud. See 18 U.S.C.
§ 1343. The presentence report (PSR) calculated an advisory guideline range of 27 to 33
months imprisonment. He did not object to the PSR. He moved for a downward
variance to 18 months imprisonment based on his good intentions, age (63-years-old at
the time of sentencing), health (diabetes, heart murmur, high blood pressure, and bad
1
Saltwater is a by-product of the oil drilling process.
knees), and gambling addiction. The district judge denied the motion, sentenced him to
the bottom of the guideline range, and ordered him to pay $685,347.25 in restitution.
Appointed counsel reviewed the record and found no arguable issue for appeal.
Based on that review he filed an Anders2 brief and has moved to withdraw. Although
invited to do so, Strahan has not filed a response. The government has also declined to
respond.
Our task in an Anders case is to “conduct a full examination of the record to
determine whether defendant’s claims are wholly frivolous.” United States v. Calderon,
428 F.3d 928, 930 (10th Cir. 2005). If they are, we may grant counsel’s motion to
withdraw and dismiss the appeal. Id. “Frivolous means lacking a legal basis or legal
merit; not serious; not reasonably purposeful.” United States v. Lain, 640 F.3d 1134,
1137 (10th Cir. 2011) (quotations omitted). After a careful review of the entire record,
we find no reason to question the voluntariness of Strahan’s guilty plea or the procedural
or substantive reasonableness of his sentence. Like counsel, we see no non-frivolous
grounds for appeal.
We GRANT the motion to withdraw and DISMISS this appeal.
Entered by the Court:
Terrence L. O’Brien
United States Circuit Judge
2
See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).
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