DocketNumber: 17-3680
Filed Date: 7/31/2018
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 7/31/2018
United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 17-3680 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee v. Gilberto Ray Ramos lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville ____________ Submitted: July 5, 2018 Filed: July 31, 2018 [Unpublished] ____________ Before WOLLMAN, BENTON, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM. After this court vacated a firearm conviction and remanded for resentencing, United States v. Ramos,852 F.3d 747
(8th Cir. 2017), the district court1 conducted 1 The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas. a hearing and sentenced Gilberto Ramos to a total of 135 months in prison, at the bottom of the Guidelines range calculated for his remaining jury-trial convictions for conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. Ramos appeals, and his counsel has filed a brief under Anders v. California,386 U.S. 738
(1967), challenging application of a sentence enhancement for his possession of a firearm under United States Sentence Guidelines § 2D1.1(b)(1), despite this court’s reversal of his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. A summary of the trial evidence, which was sufficient to support Ramos’s drug convictions, is included in this court’s earlier decision. SeeRamos, 852 F.3d at 750-51
. In part, the evidence established that Ramos received and distributed methamphetamine from his two-bedroom apartment in Springdale, Arkansas, and that officers who searched the apartment, which Ramos shared with a woman, found a ledger, a digital scale, baggies, cash, and methamphetamine in the kitchen; and found a .45 caliber pistol under the mattress in one of the bedrooms, the closet for which contained men’s and women’s clothing. The district court, in resentencing Ramos on his drug-related convictions, overruled his challenge to application of the two-level section 2D1.1(b) enhancement for his possession of a firearm, finding that a preponderance of the evidence established it was not clearly improbable that the weapon was connected to the drug-trafficking activity. Upon careful review, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err, see United States v. Anderson,618 F.3d 873
, 879-82 (8th Cir. 2010); States v. Mendoza,341 F.3d 687
, 694 (8th Cir. 2003); United States v. Braggs,317 F.3d 901
, 904-05 (8th Cir. 2003), notwithstanding the sentencing court’s consideration of acquitted conduct, see United States v. Watts,519 U.S. 148
, 156 (1997) (per curiam). We also conclude that the district court’s imposition of a sentence at the bottom of the Guidelines range was not substantively unreasonable. See United States v. Cromwell,645 F.3d 1020
, 1022 (8th Cir. 2011). -2- After reviewing the record independently under Penson v. Ohio,488 U.S. 75
(1988), we find no non-frivolous issues for appeal. The judgment of the district court is affirmed, and counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted. ______________________________ -3-
United States v. Anderson , 618 F.3d 873 ( 2010 )
United States v. Cromwell , 645 F.3d 1020 ( 2011 )
United States v. Miguel R. Mendoza, Jr., Also Known as ... , 341 F.3d 687 ( 2003 )
United States v. Fenaris Rashaun Braggs , 317 F.3d 901 ( 2003 )
Anders v. California , 87 S. Ct. 1396 ( 1967 )
Penson v. Ohio , 109 S. Ct. 346 ( 1988 )