USA v. Miclaude Petion

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 23-11107
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MICLAUDE PETION,
Defendant-Appellant.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
D.C. Docket No. 6:22-cr-00137-RBD-EJK-1
____________________
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2 Opinion of the Court 23-11107
Before ROSENBAUM, N EWSOM, and A NDERSON , Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Miclaude Petion appeals his prison sentence of 70 months
after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm after a fel-
ony conviction. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He challenges the district
court’s decision to apply sentencing enhancements for possessing
between three and seven firearms, see U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(1)(A), and
for possessing a stolen firearm, see id. § 2K2.1(b)(4), when calculat-
ing his advisory guideline range. The government moves to dis-
miss the appeal, arguing that Petion knowingly and voluntarily
waived these grounds for appeal in his plea agreement. After care-
ful review, we grant that motion and dismiss the appeal.
We review de novo the validity and scope of an appeal waiver
provision. King v. United States, 41 F.4th 1363, 1366 (11th Cir. 2022).
Sentence appeal waivers are enforceable if they are made know-
ingly and voluntarily. Id. at 1367. To enforce a waiver, “[t]he gov-
ernment must show that either (1) the district court specifically
questioned the defendant concerning the sentence appeal waiver
during the Rule 11 colloquy, or (2) it is manifestly clear from the
record that the defendant otherwise understood the full signifi-
cance of the waiver.” United States v. Bushert, 997 F.2d 1343, 1351
(11th Cir. 1993). “We have consistently enforced knowing and vol-
untary appeal waivers according to their terms.” United States v.
Bascomb, 451 F.3d 1292, 1294 (11th Cir. 2006).
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23-11107 Opinion of the Court 3
Here, the government has shown that the appeal waiver is
enforceable. Among the promises exchanged in the plea agree-
ment, in a provision titled and underlined, “Defendant’s Waiver of
Right to Appeal the Sentence,” Petion “expressly waive[d] the right
to appeal [his] sentence on any ground, including the ground that
the Court erred in determining the applicable guidelines range,”
except the grounds that the sentence (a) exceeded the guideline
range “as determined by the [c]ourt,” (b) exceeded the statutory
maximum, or (c) violated the Eighth Amendment. In addition, Pe-
tion would be released from the waiver if the government ap-
pealed. Petion initialed the bottom of each page of the plea agree-
ment, and he and his attorney signed the final page under a certifi-
cation stating that he fully understood the plea agreement’s terms.
Then, during the plea colloquy, a magistrate judge ques-
tioned Petion about the terms of the plea agreement, including the
appeal waiver. The magistrate judge explained that Petion was
“waiving [his] right to appeal [his] sentence except on four narrow
grounds,” which the judge accurately recited from the plea agree-
ment. Petion confirmed that he understood the appeal rights he
was giving up, that he did not have any questions about the waiver,
and that he made the waiver freely and voluntarily. The magistrate
judge found that Petion pled guilty freely and voluntarily, with full
knowledge of the consequences. And the district court accepted
the plea without any objections.
Because Petion was specifically questioned about the
waiver, and it is otherwise clear from the record that he understood
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4 Opinion of the Court 23-11107
the waiver’s full significance, we enforce the waiver according to
its terms. See Bascomb, 451 F.3d at 1294; Bushert, 997 F.2d at 1351.
And those terms plainly prohibit Petion from challenging his sen-
tence on the ground “that the [c]ourt erred in determining the ap-
plicable guidelines range,” since the sentence did not exceed the
guideline range or the statutory maximum. Accordingly, we must
enforce the terms of the appeal waiver and grant the government’s
motion to dismiss.
DISMISSED.
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