Opinion
No. 16-3544
04-28-2017
United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Jorge Gonzalez Defendant - Appellant
Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville [Unpublished] Before RILEY, MURPHY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM.
In this direct criminal appeal, Jorge Gonzalez challenges the sentence the district court imposed following his guilty plea to a drug charge. Gonzalez's counsel moves to withdraw, and in a brief submitted under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), he raises the issue that the sentence was substantively unreasonable. We affirm.
The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas. --------
The district court imposed a sentence below the applicable advisory Guidelines range after discussing both mitigating and aggravating facts and circumstances, and after considering sentencing factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). We conclude the sentence was not substantively unreasonable. See United States v. David, 682 F.3d 1074, 1077 (8th Cir. 2012) (discussing abuse of discretion); United States v. Moore, 581 F.3d 681, 684 (8th Cir. 2009) (per curiam) (explaining, where district court sentenced defendant below the Guidelines range, it is nearly inconceivable that the court abused its discretion in not varying downward further). Having independently reviewed the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues for appeal.
We affirm, and we grant counsel's motion to withdraw.