United States v. Alejandro Villa-Gome , 400 F. App'x 104 ( 2010 )


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  •                            NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION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 November 4, 2010
    Decided November 9, 2010
    Before
    RICHARD A. POSNER, Circuit Judge
    DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge
    ANN CLAIRE WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge
    No. 10-2007
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                         Appeal from the United States District
    Plaintiff-Appellee,                          Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
    v.                                         No. 3:09-CR-30100-001-WDS
    ALEJANDRO VILLA-GOMEZ,                            William D. Stiehl,
    Defendant-Appellant.                         Judge.
    ORDER
    Alejandro Villa-Gomez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and
    distribute cocaine and two counts of distribution. See 
    21 U.S.C. §§ 841
    (a)(1), 846. The
    district court sentenced him to a total of 168 months’ imprisonment. Villa-Gomez filed a
    notice of appeal, but his appointed lawyer has concluded that the appeal is frivolous and
    moves to withdraw. See Anders v. California, 
    386 U.S. 738
     (1967). Villa-Gomez has not
    responded to counsel’s motion. See C IR. R. 51(b). We confine our review to the potential
    issues identified in counsel’s facially adequate brief. See United States v. Schuh, 
    289 F.3d 968
    ,
    973-74 (7th Cir. 2002).
    Villa-Gomez has not indicated that he wants his guilty pleas set aside, so counsel
    appropriately omits discussion of possible challenges to the plea colloquy or the
    No. 10-2007                                                                                 Page 2
    voluntariness of the pleas. See United States v. Knox, 
    287 F.3d 667
    , 671-72 (7th Cir. 2002).
    Counsel does evaluate, however, one potential argument that touches on the plea colloquy:
    whether Villa-Gomez could argue that translation errors during the colloquy undermined
    the accuracy of the information relied upon by the district court at sentencing. Villa-Gomez,
    a Mexican national, speaks limited English, and at sentencing he recanted admissions made
    during the plea hearing (and previously confirmed in a signed stipulation). Villa-Gomez
    had acknowledged that he engaged in multiple cocaine transactions with his codefendant
    during the charged conspiracy, that he also was guilty of the substantive distribution
    charges, and that the conspiracy involved more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. As we
    understand counsel’s submission, Villa-Gomez apparently now contends that the official
    court interpreter caused him to unwittingly make these admissions, which he now
    contends are untrue. Counsel is correct, however, that this claim necessarily would be
    frivolous if made on direct appeal because there is no record support for it. See United
    States v. Johnson, 
    248 F.3d 655
    , 663 (7th Cir. 2001); United States v. Cirrincione, 
    780 F.2d 620
    ,
    634 (7th Cir. 1985). Indeed the record refutes Villa-Gomez’s effort to blame the interpreter
    for his in-court admissions. Before the plea colloquy, Villa-Gomez already had executed
    both Spanish and English versions of the stipulation, in which he admits both his guilt and
    the drug quantity. Counsel does not suggest that the two versions differ. Nor has Villa-
    Gomez said that he cannot read Spanish, so his signature on the Spanish-language version
    undercuts his allegation that he misunderstood the interpreter when the English version
    was recited and translated during the plea colloquy. Villa-Gomez never suggested during
    the colloquy that he was confused about the proceeding or the admissions he was making;
    only when he later reviewed the presentence investigation report (with an interpreter) did
    Villa-Gomez first complain about the competency of the interpreter who was present
    during the colloquy.
    Counsel next considers but rejects as frivolous an argument that the district court
    erred by refusing Villa-Gomez an offense-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility,
    U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, and instead imposing an increase for obstruction of justice, id. § 3C1.1. But
    we would review the court’s underlying factual determinations at sentencing for clear
    error, United States v. Williams, 
    553 F.3d 1073
    , 1081 (7th Cir. 2009); United States v. Krasinski,
    
    545 F.3d 546
    , 554 (7th Cir. 2008); United States v. King, 
    506 F.3d 532
    , 535 (7th Cir. 2007), and
    the record refutes any argument Villa-Gomez might advance. He recanted a stipulation to
    his guilt and to the drug quantity that was “even better than a jury’s finding beyond a
    reasonable doubt.” See United States v. Warneke, 
    310 F.3d 542
    , 550 (7th Cir. 2002). That
    stipulation was backed by drug transactions between Villa-Gomez and government
    informants, along with surveillance, voice recordings, information from his codefendant
    and others, and even Villa-Gomez’s own post-arrest interviews. And yet at sentencing
    Villa-Gomez testified that he was not involved in any drug dealing and did nothing other
    No. 10-2007                                                                             Page 3
    than transport some currency of unknown origin—$90,000 was seized from his car during
    the investigation—for a friend who might have been a drug dealer. We would uphold an
    obstruction increase where the district court properly concluded that a defendant willfully
    provided false testimony regarding a material issue, see United States v. Johnson, 
    612 F.3d 889
    , 893 (7th Cir. 2010); United States v. Bryant, 
    557 F.3d 489
    , 501 (7th Cir. 2009), and
    acceptance of responsibility reductions rarely, if ever, accompany obstruction increases,
    U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 cmt. n.4.
    Finally, counsel evaluates whether Villa-Gomez could argue that the district court
    should have imposed a prison sentence below the 10-year mandatory minimum. But once
    the district court concluded that the conspiracy involved at least 5 kilograms of cocaine, the
    10-year statutory minimum applied. See 
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    (b)(1)(A); United States v. James, 
    487 F.3d 518
    , 530 (7th Cir. 2007). And counsel identifies no provision that would have
    permitted the district court to deviate from that minimum. Villa-Gomez was ineligible for a
    “safety valve” reduction, see 
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (f), U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, and the government did
    not move for a reduced sentence for cooperation, 
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (e); Melendez v. United
    States, 
    518 U.S. 120
    , 125-26 (1996); United States v. Burnside, 
    588 F.3d 511
    , 521 n.5 (7th Cir.
    2009).
    Accordingly, we G RANT counsel’s motion to withdraw and D ISMISS the appeal.