United States v. Lloyd , 313 F. App'x 169 ( 2009 )

FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
February 23, 2009
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
No. 08-1234
v. (D.C. No. 01-CR-00214-WYD-5)
(D. Colo.)
THEOLIAN LLOYD,
Defendant - Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before KELLY, ANDERSON, and BRISCOE, Circuit Judges. **
Defendant-Appellant Theolian Lloyd appeals from the district court’s
denial of his motion for sentence reduction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2)
and Amendment 706 to the Sentencing Guidelines. See R. Doc. 3595. In April
2004, Mr. Lloyd was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute fifty
grams or more of crack cocaine, and two counts of distributing crack cocaine. R.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited,
however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th
Cir. R. 32.1.
**
After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this three-judge
panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not be of material
assistance in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th
Cir. R. 34.1(G). The cause is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
Doc. 3422, attachment 1 (judgment); see also 18 U.S.C. § 2; 21 U.S.C. §§
841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(iii), (b)(1)(B)(iii), 846. Because of Mr. Lloyd’s previous
felony drug conviction, he was sentenced to the statutory minimum term of 240
months’ imprisonment and ten years’ supervised release under 21 U.S.C. §
841(b)(1)(A)(iii). R. Doc. 3422, attachment 1 (judgment). This court affirmed
the conviction and sentence. United States v. Small, 423 F.3d 1164 (10th Cir.
2005).
In March 2008, Mr. Lloyd filed a motion for appointment of counsel and
modification of sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). R. Doc. 3568. The
district court appointed Mr. John H. Schlie as Mr. Lloyd’s representative. R.
Doc. 3570. Subsequently, Mr. Schlie and the government notified the court that
Mr. Lloyd was ineligible for a sentence reduction because he had received the
mandatory minimum sentence required by statute. R. Doc. 3587; R. Doc. 3592.
Citing a pending ineffective assistance of counsel claim filed by Mr. Lloyd
regarding Mr. Schlie, Mr. Lloyd wrote to the district court on May 6, 2008,
requesting appointment of substitute counsel. On May 14, 2008, the district court
struck Mr. Lloyd’s subsequent motion to appoint counsel. On May 20, 2008, the
district court denied Mr. Lloyd’s § 3582(c)(2) motion. R. Doc. 3595.
After again moving the court for appointment of counsel on June 17, 2008,
Mr. Lloyd filed an undated pro se notice of appeal on June 27, 2008. R. Doc.
3609. Attached was a certificate of service that indicated the appeal was served
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on “this ___ day of June, 2008.” Id. After Mr. Schlie’s motion for leave to
withdraw was granted, Mr. Robert T. Fishman was appointed as counsel on July
8, 2008. R. Doc. 3616. Mr. Fishman has filed a brief (and served it on Mr.
Lloyd) where he seeks to withdraw pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S.
738, 744 (1967). Mr. Lloyd has filed a brief in opposition. We agree that there
are no potentially meritorious issues on appeal because (1) the appeal was
untimely and (2) the sentence in this case was not eligible for sentence reduction.
Under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b)(1)(A), a defendant’s notice
of appeal must be filed within ten days of entry of the order being appealed. Fed.
R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A); see also United States v. Espinosa-Talamantes, 319 F.3d
1245, 1246 (10th Cir. 2003) (holding that ten-day rule applies to motion to
modify sentence pursuant to § 3582(c)(2)). Final order and judgment in this case
was entered on May 20, 2008. R. Doc. 3595. Therefore, because Mr. Lloyd did
not mail his notice of appeal until sometime in June 2008, the appeal is untimely.
See also United States v. Ceballos-Martinez, 371 F.3d 713, 715-18 (10th Cir.
2004) (declining to apply the “prisoner mailbox rule” under Fed. R. App. P.
4(c)(1) where appellant failed to include a declaration in compliance with 28
U.S.C. § 1746 or a notarized statement indicating the date of deposit with federal
prison officials). We note that, under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure
4(b)(4), a district court may, before or after the expiration of the ten-day period,
extend the time to file a notice of appeal by up to thirty days upon a finding of
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“excusable neglect or good cause.”
Although non-compliance with the time limit in Rule 4(b)(1)(A) is not
jurisdictional, see United States v. Garduno, 506 F.3d 1287, 1290-91, 1292 n.5
(10th Cir. 2007), the government has objected on this basis. The government also
argues that no purpose would be served by remanding this appeal for a
determination on “excusable neglect or good cause” because the district court
lacked jurisdiction to modify Mr. Lloyd’s sentence. A district court has limited
authority to modify a previously imposed sentence and must do so pursuant to
statutory authority. United States v. Mendoza, 118 F.3d 707, 709 (10th Cir.
1997); see also United States v. Blackwell, 81 F.3d 945, 947-49 (10th Cir. 1996).
Here, the sentence was not “based on a sentencing range that has subsequently
been lowered” as required by § 3582(c)(2). Although Amendment 706 may
appear to apply because the offense involved crack cocaine, Mr. Lloyd was
sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment based on a statutory minimum required
under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)(iii). Such a sentence rendered the district court
without jurisdiction to consider Mr. Lloyd’s § 3582(c)(2) motion. See U.S.S.G. §
1B1.10, cmt.1(A); United States v. Lagunas, No. 08-1228, 2009 WL 213159, at
*2 (10th Cir. Jan. 30, 2009); United States v. Smartt, 129 F.3d 539, 542-43 (10th
Cir. 1997).
We GRANT counsel’s motion to withdraw and DISMISS Mr. Lloyd’s
appeal. We construe Mr. Lloyd’s “Rebuttal” brief as an untimely reply brief and
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GRANT him leave to file it.
Entered for the Court
Paul J. Kelly, Jr.
Circuit Judge
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