United States v. Sanford-Valdez

Appellate Case: 25-1353 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 03/11/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT March 11, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 25-1353 (D.C. No. 1:23-CR-00092-CNS-1) CARLOS SANFORD-VALDEZ, (D. Colo.) a/k/a Charlie Vuitton, Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before PHILLIPS, MORITZ, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Carlos Sanford-Valdez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 400 grams and more of fentanyl and cocaine. The district court sentenced him to 240 months in prison. He filed a notice of appeal.

Mr. Sanford-Valdez’s plea agreement contains an appeal waiver, which the government now moves to enforce under United States v. Hahn, 359 F.3d 1315, 1328 (10th Cir. 2004). He responds, through counsel, that he “does not oppose the government’s motion to enforce the appeal waiver based on [Hahn].” Resp. at 1.

Based on Mr. Sanford-Valdez’s non-opposition, we grant the government’s motion

* This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.

Appellate Case: 25-1353 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 03/11/2026 Page: 2 and dismiss this appeal. This dismissal is without prejudice to Mr. Sanford-Valdez seeking relief in a collateral proceeding as permitted under the terms of his plea agreement. 1

Entered for the Court

Per Curiam

In his response, Mr. Sanford-Valdez “reserves the other rights retained under the terms of the appeal waiver, including but [not] limited to the right to pursue certain claims by way of 28 U.S.C. § 2255.” Resp. at 1. This is consistent with the terms of the waiver in his plea agreement. See Mot. to Enforce, Attach. 1 at 3 (“This waiver provision does not prevent the defendant from seeking relief otherwise available in a collateral attack on [certain specified] grounds[.]”).