U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 2009

United States v. Peguese

United States v. Peguese
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · Decided July 15, 2009 · Traxler, King, Duncan
339 F. App'x 309

United States v. Peguese

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Brandon James Pegúese seeks to appeal his conviction, pursuant to a guilty plea, on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and the resulting sentence of 121 months. The district court entered judgment on November 2, 2007. Pegúese filed the notice of appeal, dated December 10, 2007, on March 10, 2008. Because Pegúese failed to file a timely notice of appeal 1 and it was unclear whether Pe-gúese delivered his notice to prison authorities during the thirty-day excusable neglect period, we remanded the case to the district court for a determination as to whether the notice was given to prison officials during the excusable neglect period, and if so, whether Pegúese had shown excusable neglect or good cause warranting an extension of the time to file a notice of appeal.

Despite an order from the district court directing Pegúese to submit a response with the requested information, Pegúese failed to respond. The court therefore determined that Pegúese filed his notice on December 10, 2007, 2 but failed to demonstrate excusable neglect or good cause. See United States v. Peguese, No. 6:07-cr-00017-GRA-4, 2009 WL 614775 (D.S.C. Mar. 6, 2009). The matter is now before this court for final disposition. In light of Peguese’s failure to file a timely notice of appeal and the district court’s reasonable determination that Pegúese failed to demonstrate excusable neglect or good cause for his late appeal, we dismiss the appeal as untimely.

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before *311 the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED.

1

. In criminal cases, the defendant must file the notice of appeal within ten days after the entry of judgment. Fed. R.App. P. 4(b)(1)(A). With or without a motion, upon a showing of excusable neglect or good cause, the district court may grant an extension of up to thirty days to file a notice of appeal. Fed. R.App. P. 4(b)(4); United States v. Reyes, 759 F.2d 351, 353 (4th Cir. 1985).

2

. See Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 108 S.Ct. 2379, 101 L.Ed.2d 245 (1988).

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