United States of America v. Claude Sloan

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-7326
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
CLAUDE SLOAN,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Big
Stone Gap. James P. Jones, Senior District Judge. (2:18-cr-00004-JPJ-1)
Submitted: February 21, 2023 Decided: February 24, 2023
Before NIEMEYER and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Claude Sloan, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Claude Sloan appeals the district court’s order denying his tenth motion for
compassionate release. On appeal, we confine our review to the issues raised in the
informal brief. See 4th Cir. R. 34(b). Because Sloan’s informal brief does not challenge
the district court’s disposition of this motion, he has forfeited appellate review of the
court’s order.* See Jackson v. Lightsey, 775 F.3d 170, 177 (4th Cir. 2014) (“The informal
brief is an important document; under Fourth Circuit rules, our review is limited to issues
preserved in that brief.”). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s order. United States
v. Sloan, No. 2:18-cr-00004-JPJ-1 (W.D. Va. Nov. 8, 2022). We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
* To the extent Sloan seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his petition
for actual innocence, that order is not properly before us. Sloan noted this appeal before
the district court entered its order denying that petition, and he did not subsequently note
an appeal of that order. See Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(1)(A).

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