Opinion
No. 06-3798.
Submitted: December 7, 2007.
Filed: December 13, 2007.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
John H. Lammers, U.S. Attorney's Office, Sioux City, IA, Appellee.
Pamela A. Wingert, Spirit Lake, IA, for Appellant.
Before WOLLMAN, COLLOTON, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
[UNPUBLISHED]
Leticia Caballero appeals the sentence the district court imposed following her guilty plea to conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine mixture in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and to possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine mixture in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Caballero was sentenced to serve two concurrent terms of 120 months in prison (the statutory mandatory minimum) and 5 years of supervised release. Caballero's counsel has moved to withdraw and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), arguing that Caballero's sentence is unreasonable.
The Honorable Mark W. Bennett. United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa.
Caballero's sentence is not unreasonable because in these circumstances the district court did not have discretion to impose a sentence below the mandatory minimum sentence. See United States v. Gregg, 451 F.3d 930, 937 (8th Cir. 2006) (rejecting argument that district court had discretion to impose non-Guidelines sentence when portion of sentence is result of mandatory minimum sentence; " Booker does not relate to statutorily-imposed sentences"); United States v. Chacon, 330 F.3d 1065, 1066 (8th Cir. 2003) (only authority for district court to depart from statutory minimum sentence is found in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and (f), which apply only when government makes motion for substantial assistance or defendant qualifies for safety-valve relief).
United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005).
After reviewing the record independently under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80, 109 S.Ct. 346, 102 L.Ed.2d 300 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues. Accordingly, we grant counsel leave to withdraw, and the judgment is affirmed.