United States v. Vargas-Bueno

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

United States v. Vargas-Bueno

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

_____________________

No. 99-11145 _____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

EULALIO VARGAS-BUENO

Defendant - Appellant

__________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, San Angelo USDC No. 6:99-CR-21-1-C ___________________________________________________________________ August 9, 2000

Before KING, Chief Judge, REYNALDO G. GARZA and PARKER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

The Defendant-Appellant Eulalio Vargas-Bueno waived his right

to appeal the issues that he presents here. A defendant may, as a

part of a valid plea agreement, waive his statutory right to appeal

his sentence. See United States v Melancon,

972 F.2d 566, 568

(5th

Cir. 1992). To be valid, the waiver must be an informed one. See

id. at 567

. Contrary to Vargas’ argument on appeal, a district

court’s misstatements at a sentencing hearing as to a defendant’s

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. right to appeal, made after the defendant entered into a plea

agreement, do not affect the voluntariness of a waiver of appeal

provision. See

id. at 568

. When the record clearly shows that the

defendant read and understood the plea agreement and that he raised

no question regarding the waiver of appeal provision, the plea

agreement is upheld. See United States v Portillo,

18 F.3d 290, 292-93

(5th Cir. 1994). This case differs from United States v

Robinson,

187 F.3d 516

(5th Cir. 1999), in that in this case,

unlike in Robinson, the district court determined through its

questioning that Vargas-Bueno had read and understood the plea

agreement.1

All outstanding motions are DENIED.

DISMISSED.

1 We note that the plea agreement at issue here predates the amendment to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 that became effective December 1, 1999.

Reference

Status
Unpublished