United States v. Gregory Wieskamp , 711 F. App'x 370 ( 2018 )


Menu:
  •                 United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eighth Circuit
    ___________________________
    No. 17-1463
    ___________________________
    United States of America
    lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
    v.
    Gregory Wayne Wieskamp
    lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
    ____________
    Appeal from United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Iowa - Davenport
    ____________
    Submitted: February 6, 2018
    Filed: February 15, 2018
    [Unpublished]
    ____________
    Before BENTON, MURPHY, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges.
    ____________
    PER CURIAM.
    Gregory Wieskamp directly appeals after he pleaded guilty to ammunition
    possession offenses, and the district court1 sentenced him within the Guidelines
    1
    The Honorable James E. Gritzner, United States District Judge for the
    Southern District of Iowa.
    range. His counsel has moved to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v.
    California, 
    386 U.S. 738
    (1967), arguing that the district court inadequately informed
    Wieskamp of his right to persist in a plea of not guilty, see Fed. R. Crim.
    P. 11(b)(1)(B), and abused its discretion by sentencing Wieskamp to a greater prison
    term than his codefendants received.
    Wieskamp did not object to the purported Rule 11 error below, and after
    careful review, we conclude that no plain error occurred. See United States v.
    Dominguez Benitez, 
    542 U.S. 74
    , 76 (2004) (plain-error standard); United States v.
    Gillen, 
    449 F.3d 898
    , 903-04 (8th Cir. 2006) (concluding that failure to give Rule 11
    warning verbatim was harmless where plea agreement contained warning and
    defendant confirmed that he understood agreement). We also conclude that the
    district court did not impose a substantively unreasonable sentence, as it specifically
    discussed several sentencing factors, and considered counsel’s argument that
    Wieskamp should not receive a harsher sentence than two of his codefendants. See
    United States v. Stults, 
    575 F.3d 834
    , 849 (8th Cir. 2009) (abuse-of-discretion review;
    where court makes individualized assessment based on facts presented, addressing
    defendant’s proffered information in considering 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors,
    sentence is not unreasonable); United States v. Feemster, 
    572 F.3d 455
    , 461-62 (8th
    Cir. 2009) (en banc) (if sentence is within Guidelines range, appellate court may, but
    is not required to, apply presumption of reasonableness).
    Having independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 
    488 U.S. 75
    (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we affirm the
    judgment, and we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.
    ______________________________
    -2-