United States of America v. Jorge Gonzalez

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 16-3544
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Jorge Gonzalez
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Western District of Arkansas - Fayetteville
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Submitted: April 13, 2017
Filed: April 28, 2017
[Unpublished]
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Before RILEY, MURPHY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.
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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 counsel1
The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the1
Western District of Arkansas.

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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 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.
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