United States of America v. Paula Cole

19-2745Court of Appeals for the Eighth CircuitFeb 26, 2021

Full text

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________
No. 20-3005
___________________________
United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
Paula Cole
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids
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Submitted: February 10, 2021
Filed: February 16, 2021
[Unpublished]
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Before LOKEN, COLLOTON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Paula Cole appeals after she pleaded guilty to perjury and the district court1
imposed a sentence that varied downward from the advisory sentencing guideline
1The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.

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range. Her counsel has moved to withdraw and has filed a brief under Anders v.
California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the four-month prison sentence and
four-month home detention as unreasonable.
Having reviewed the record under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard
of review, see Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007), we conclude that the
district court did not impose an unreasonable sentence. The court properly
considered the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), and there is no indication that
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, 461-62 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc); see
also United States v. Dunn, 928 F.3d 688, 694 (8th Cir. 2019); United States v.
Lazarski, 560 F.3d 731, 733 (8th Cir. 2009). Furthermore, we have independently
reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no
nonfrivolous issues for appeal.
Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion to withdraw, and we affirm the
judgment.
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