USCA4 Appeal: 24-4156 Doc: 31 Filed: 11/22/2024 Pg: 1 of 3

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 24-4156

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

JERETT ALSTON,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore. Ellen Lipton Hollander, Senior District Judge. (1:22-cr-00013-ELH-1)

Submitted: November 19, 2024 Decided: November 22, 2024

Before QUATTLEBAUM, RUSHING, and BENJAMIN, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: Mirriam Z. Seddiq, SEDDIQ LAW FIRM, Rockville, Maryland, for Appellant. Patricia Corwin McLane, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 24-4156 Doc: 31 Filed: 11/22/2024 Pg: 2 of 3

PER CURIAM:

In April 2023, Jerett Alston pled guilty, pursuant to a Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C)

plea agreement, to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person, in

violation of

(g)(1). In accordance with the plea agreement, the district

court sentenced Alston to 72 months’ imprisonment on May 3, 2023. Alston filed a pro se

notice of appeal from the criminal judgment on March 13, 2024. See Houston v. Lack,

(1988). Counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California,

(1967), conceding that there are no meritorious issues for appeal. Alston has not filed

a supplemental pro se brief despite receiving notice of his right to do so. The Government

has moved to dismiss the appeal as untimely. ∗

In criminal cases, the defendant must file the notice of appeal within 14 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 30 days to file a notice of appeal. Fed. R. App. P. 4(b)(4). Although the appeal

period in a criminal case is not a jurisdictional provision, but rather a claim-processing rule,

United States v. Urutyan,

(4th Cir. 2009), “[w]hen the Government

promptly invokes the rule in response to a late-filed criminal appeal, we must dismiss,”

United States v. Oliver,

(4th Cir. 2017).

∗ The Government also moves to dismiss the appeal as barred by the appeal waiver in Alston’s plea agreement, but we need not reach this issue.

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Alston noted his appeal nearly one year after the district court entered its judgment,

well beyond both the 14-day appeal period and the 30-day excusable neglect period.

Because Alston failed to file a timely notice of appeal or to obtain an extension of the

appeal period, and since the Government has promptly invoked the appeal’s untimeliness,

see 4th Cir. R. 27(f)(2), we grant the Government’s motion and dismiss Alston’s appeal.

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.

DISMISSED

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