United States v. Gates Sisk ( 2021 )


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  •                         NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION
    To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Seventh Circuit
    Chicago, Illinois 60604
    Submitted June 18, 2021
    Decided June 24, 2021
    Before
    DIANE S. SYKES, Chief Judge
    DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge
    AMY J. ST. EVE, Circuit Judge
    No. 20‐2966
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                        Appeal from the United States District
    Plaintiff‐Appellee,                         Court for the Central District of Illinois.
    v.                                        No. 18‐cr‐40053‐002
    GATES I. SISK,                                   Sara Darrow,
    Defendant‐Appellant.                         Chief Judge.
    ORDER
    Gates Sisk pleaded guilty to robbery, 
    18 U.S.C. § 1951
    (a), possessing controlled
    substances with intent to distribute, 
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    (a)(1), and brandishing a firearm
    during a robbery, 
    18 U.S.C. § 924
    (c)(1)(A)(ii), after he and two accomplices robbed a
    store at gunpoint, taking cash and prescription drugs. The district court sentenced him
    within the guidelines to concurrent sentences of 72 months’ imprisonment for both the
    robbery and drug charges and a consecutive sentence of 84 months in prison, the
    mandatory minimum, for the gun charge. Sisk appeals, but his counsel asserts that the
    appeal is frivolous and moves to withdraw. See Anders v. California, 
    386 U.S. 738
    , 744
    (1967). Counsel’s brief explains the nature of the case and raises potential issues that an
    No. 20‐2966                                                                           Page 2
    appeal like this would be expected to involve. Because his analysis appears thorough,
    and Sisk has not responded to his motion, see CIR. R. 51(b), we limit our review to the
    subjects that counsel discusses. See United States v. Bey, 
    748 F.3d 774
    , 776 (7th Cir. 2014).
    Counsel first considers whether Sisk could raise a non‐frivolous challenge to his
    guilty plea under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11. Counsel fails to tell us, as he
    should have, whether he consulted with Sisk about the risks of challenging his plea.
    See United States v. Konczak, 
    683 F.3d 348
    , 349 (7th Cir. 2012); United States v. Knox, 
    287 F.3d 667
    , 671 (7th Cir. 2002). The omission is harmless, though, because the transcript of
    Sisk’s plea colloquy shows that any challenge to his plea would be pointless.
    See Konczak, 683 F.3d at 349. The district court determined that Sisk understood the
    charges against him, the trial rights that he was waiving, the maximum penalties for his
    offense, and the role of the sentencing guidelines. See FED. R. CRIM. P. 11(b)(1). The court
    further ensured that Sisk’s plea was supported by an adequate factual basis and made
    voluntarily. See FED. R. CRIM. P. 11(b)(2)–(3).
    Counsel next considers whether Sisk could advance a non‐frivolous procedural
    attack against his sentence and appropriately concludes that he could not. Counsel
    correctly notes that Sisk did not object to the guidelines calculations in the presentence
    investigation report, and at his sentencing hearing he affirmatively agreed with them,
    so he waived any challenge to them. See United States v. Fuentes, 
    858 F.3d 1119
    , 1121
    (7th Cir. 2017). And even if he had not, the record contains no basis for such a challenge.
    The court properly calculated a guidelines range of 70 to 87 months in prison for the
    robbery and drug charges based on Sisk’s criminal history category of I and a total
    offense level of 27. See U.S.S.G. § 5A. And it rightly noted that the § 924(c) firearm
    charge carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 84 months’ imprisonment, to run
    consecutively to any other sentence. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii); U.S.S.G. § 2K2.4(b).
    We also agree with counsel that any challenge to Sisk’s sentence as substantively
    unreasonable would be futile. The court imposed the mandatory minimum sentence for
    the firearm charge and sentences at the low end of the guidelines range for the other
    charges. We presume that a within‐guidelines sentence is reasonable. See Gall v.
    United States, 
    552 U.S. 38
    , 51 (2007); United States v. McDonald, 
    981 F.3d 579
    , 581 (7th Cir.
    2020). Nothing in the record, which shows that the district court considered the factors
    under 
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (a) in sentencing Sisk, could rebut the presumption. The court
    considered his youth (he was 18 at the time of the robbery), his difficult childhood, his
    struggles with substance abuse, and his supportive family, and it found those factors to
    be mitigating. § 3553(a)(1). But it permissibly decided that other factors weighed against
    No. 20‐2966                                                                      Page 3
    the mitigating elements. It reasoned that the circumstances of his offense were “as
    serious as it gets,” as it was a “planned, coordinated and quite competent robbery” in
    which Sisk and his accomplices “terrorized” employees before fleeing from police. Id.
    The court thus reasonably concluded that 72 months in prison (followed by the
    mandatory 84 months for the § 924(c) charge) would suffice to reflect the seriousness of
    the offense and provide specific and general deterrence. § 3553(a)(2)(A)–(B).
    Therefore, we GRANT counsel’s motion to withdraw and DISMISS the appeal.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 20-2966

Judges: Per Curiam

Filed Date: 6/24/2021

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 6/24/2021