United States of America v. Taft Cornelius Burtton

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 25-1227
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Taft Cornelius Burtton
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Southern District of Iowa - Western
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Submitted: July 8, 2025
Filed: July 11, 2025
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Taft Burtton appeals the sentence the district court1 imposed after he pleaded
guilty to drug and firearm offenses pursuant to a written plea agreement. His counsel
1The Honorable Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger, United States District Judge for
the Southern District of Iowa.

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has moved to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S.
738 (1967), challenging the substantive reasonableness of the sentence.
Having reviewed the record under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard
of review, we conclude the district court did not impose a substantively unreasonable
sentence, as the court considered the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and
there is no indication the court overlooked a relevant factor, gave significant weight
to an improper or irrelevant factor, or committed a clear error of judgment in
weighing relevant factors. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461 (8th Cir.
2009) (en banc); see also United States v. McCauley, 715 F.3d 1119, 1127 (8th Cir.
2013) (explaining that when a district court varies below the Guideline range, “it is
nearly inconceivable” that the court abused its discretion in not varying further).
Finally, we have independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S.
75 (1988), and have found no non-frivolous issues for appeal.
Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and affirm the judgment.
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