United States of America v. David A. Floyd

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 17-2470
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee
v.
David A. Floyd
lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield
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Submitted: August 13, 2018
Filed: August 16, 2018
[Unpublished]
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Before GRUENDER, KELLY, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
David Floyd directly appeals the below-Guidelines-range sentence the district
court1 imposed after he pleaded guilty to a drug-conspiracy charge. His counsel has
1The Honorable M. Douglas Harpool, United States District Judge for the
Western District of Missouri.

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moved for leave to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386
U.S. 738 (1967), relaying Floyd’s arguments that ineffective assistance of counsel led
to his guilty plea, and that his sentence was unreasonable.
Upon careful review, we conclude that the district court did not impose an
unreasonable sentence.2 See United States v. McCauley, 715 F.3d 1119, 1127 (8th
Cir. 2013) (when district court has varied downward from Guidelines range, it is
“nearly inconceivable” that court abused its discretion in not varying downward
further). Further, we decline to consider Floyd’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel
claim on direct appeal. See United States v. Ramirez-Hernandez, 449 F.3d 824,
826-27 (8th Cir. 2006) (ineffective-assistance claims are usually best litigated in
collateral proceedings, where record can be properly developed).
Finally, 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
affirm, and we grant counsel leave to withdraw.
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2We decline to enforce the appeal waiver in Floyd’s plea agreement. Cf.
United States v. Andis, 333 F.3d 886, 890 (8th Cir. 2003) (en banc).
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