United States of America v. Brian Swartz

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 16-4525
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Brian Swartz
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Northern District of Iowa, Waterloo
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Submitted: July 18, 2017
Filed: July 20, 2017
[Unpublished]
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Before WOLLMAN, LOKEN, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Brian Swartz pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of
methamphetamine. The district court1 determined that his advisory guidelines range
1The Honorable Linda R. Reade, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.

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was 188 to 235 months in prison, granted the government’s motion for a substantial
assistance reduction, and sentenced Swartz to 144 months. He appeals the sentence,
and his counsel has submitted a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738
(1967), arguing that the district court erred in denying a mitigating-role reduction,
and abused its discretion in denying a downward variance.
After careful review of the record, including Swartz’s admissions of substantial
involvement in the conspiracy in the plea agreement, we conclude the district court
did not clearly err in denying a mitigating-role reduction, and did not abuse its
discretion in declining a further downward departure or variance. We have
independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and
find no non-frivolous issues for appeal.
Accordingly, we affirm.
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