United States v. Williams ( 2022 )

Appellate Case: 22-3007 Document: 010110712070 Date Filed: 07/18/2022 Page: 1
FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT July 18, 2022
_________________________________
Christopher M. Wolpert
Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v. No. 22-3007
(D.C. No. 6:15-CR-10181-JWB)
(D. Kan.)
TRAYON L. WILLIAMS,
Defendant - Appellant.
_________________________________
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
_________________________________
Before MORITZ, BRISCOE, and CARSON Circuit Judges.
_________________________________
Defendant Trayon Williams pleaded guilty in 2016 to one count of being a
felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).
Williams was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of forty months, to be followed by
a three-year term of supervised release. After completing his term of imprisonment
and beginning his term of supervised release, Williams was found by his probation
officer to be in possession of a firearm. Williams ultimately admitted to possessing
*
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding
precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral
estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with
Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
Appellate Case: 22-3007 Document: 010110712070 Date Filed: 07/18/2022 Page: 2
the firearm. Based upon that admission, the district court revoked Williams’
supervised release and ordered him to serve a revocation sentence of twenty-four
months’ imprisonment.
Williams now appeals from that revocation sentence. His appointed counsel
has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), asserting that
there are no non-frivolous grounds on which Williams can appeal. Williams’ counsel
also moves to withdraw. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we
agree with Williams’ counsel that the record contains no non-frivolous grounds on
which Williams can appeal. As a result, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and
dismiss the appeal.
I
In 2016, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging
Williams with three criminal counts arising out of his conduct on December 1, 2015:
(1) being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1)
and 924(a)(2); (2) being a felon in possession of ammunition, in violation of 18
U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2); and (3) possession of marijuana, in violation of
21 U.S.C. § 844(a). In August 2016, Williams pleaded guilty to the felon in
possession of a firearm charge in exchange for the government’s agreement to
dismiss the remaining two charges. Williams was sentenced on that charge to a term
of imprisonment of forty months, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised
release. Among the mandatory conditions of supervised release were that Williams
was not to “commit another federal, state, or local crime.” ROA, Vol. I at 40. In
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addition, the standard conditions of Williams’ supervised release stated, in pertinent
part: “You must not own, possess, or have access to a firearm, ammunition,
destructive device, or dangerous weapon.” Id. at 41.
In March 2020, Williams completed his term of imprisonment and began his
three-year term of supervised release. On November 2, 2020, Williams’ former
girlfriend filed a police report stating that Williams stole “a black Ruger LCP .380
handgun with a red dot sight belonging to her.” Id., Vol. II at 57. A month later, on
December 2, 2020, Williams’ “probation officer became aware of a Facebook live
video depicting” Williams at his residence “in possession of a small black firearm.”
Id. at 58. “This firearm was believed to be the weapon reported stolen from his
previous girlfriend.” Id. Probation officers immediately obtained and executed a
search warrant for Williams’ residence. During the execution of the search warrant,
probation officers recovered a black Ruger LCP .380 handgun with a red dot sight.
The weapon was loaded with six rounds of ammunition.
On December 3, 2020, Williams’ probation officer petitioned the district court
to revoke Williams’ term of supervised release based upon his failure to comply with
the terms of that supervised release.
On January 26, 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Williams, based upon his
possession of the Ruger .380 handgun, on a single count of being a felon in
possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). On
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October 18, 2021, Williams pleaded guilty to that charge and admitted that he
knowingly possessed the Ruger .380 handgun on December 2, 2020.
On January 6, 2022, the district court held a hearing on the petition to revoke
Williams’ term of supervised release on the 2016 conviction. Williams again
admitted to possessing the Ruger .380 handgun. He also admitted that he was
arrested by the police for criminal possession of that firearm. Based upon Williams’
admissions, the district court revoked Williams’ term of supervised release on the
2016 conviction and sentenced him to a term of imprisonment of twenty-four months,
with no subsequent term of supervised release.
Williams filed a timely notice of appeal from the revocation judgment.
II
Anders provides that
[i]f counsel finds [the defendant’s] case to be wholly frivolous, after a
conscientious examination of it, he should so advise the court and
request permission to withdraw. That request must, however, be
accompanied by a brief referring to anything in the record that might
arguably support the appeal . . . . [T]he court—not counsel—then
proceeds, after a full examination of all the proceedings, to decide
whether the case is wholly frivolous. If it so finds it may grant
counsel’s request to withdraw and dismiss the appeal . . . .
386 U.S. at 744. When counsel submits an Anders brief, we review the record de
novo to determine whether there are non-frivolous grounds for appeal. See United
States v. Leon, 476 F.3d 829, 832 (10th Cir. 2007) (per curiam).
Having conducted a de novo review of the record now before us, we agree
with Williams’s counsel that there are no non-frivolous grounds for appeal. Because
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Williams admitted to knowingly possessing the Ruger .380 on December 2, 2020,
there is no question that he violated the express terms of his supervised release on the
2016 conviction and committed what the district court properly classified as a Grade
B violation under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. See U.S.S.G.
§ 7B1.1(a)(2). In light of this Grade B violation, the district court was required by
the Sentencing Guidelines to revoke Williams’ supervised release. U.S.S.G.
§ 7B1.3(a)(1) (“Upon a finding of a Grade A or B violation, the court shall revoke
. . . supervised release.”).
As for the revocation sentence imposed by the district court, we conclude it is
both procedurally and substantively reasonable. In terms of procedural
reasonableness, the district court correctly calculated that Williams, given his Grade
B violation and his criminal history category of V, was subject to a revocation
sentence of 18 to 24 months. See U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a) (revocation table). The
district court in turn expressly “considered the nature and circumstances of the[]
violations, [the] characteristics of [Williams], and the sentencing objectives required
by statute” before deciding to impose a sentence at the top of that range. ROA, Vol.
III at 73. As for substantive reasonableness, we apply a presumption of
reasonableness to the revocation sentence imposed by the district court because it
was within the range contemplated by § 7B1.4 of the United States Sentencing
Guidelines. See United States v. McBride, 633 F.3d 1229, 1232–33 (10th Cir. 2011).
And our independent review of the record does not reveal any evidence that would
rebut that presumption. We therefore conclude that the revocation sentence imposed
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by the district court was both “reasoned and reasonable.” United States v. Contreras-
Martinez, 409 F.3d 1236, 1241 (10th Cir. 2005) (quotation marks omitted).
III
Counsel’s motion to withdraw is GRANTED and the appeal is DISMISSED.
Entered for the Court
Mary Beck Briscoe
Circuit Judge
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