United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 17-3414 ___________________________

Wilfrido Juan Pujols, also known as Wil Pujols

lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant

v.

Pujols Family Foundation; Deidre Pujols, in her individual capacity; Jose Alberto Pujols, in his individual capacity, also known as Albert Pujols

lllllllllllllllllllll Defendants - Appellees ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis ____________

Submitted: May 3, 2018 Filed: May 8, 2018 [Unpublished] ____________

Before WOLLMAN, LOKEN, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM. Wilfrido Pujols appeals the district court’s1 dismissal with prejudice of his diversity action asserting state-law claims for libel and slander. Having reviewed the record and the parties’ filings, we agree, for the reasons stated by the district court, that Pujols failed to state a claim for either libel or slander. See Martin v. Iowa, 752 F.3d 725, 727 (8th Cir. 2014) (Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) dismissal is reviewed de novo). We further conclude that the district court correctly dismissed the action with prejudice. See Ahmed v. United States, 147 F.3d 791, 797 (8th Cir. 1998) (dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6) is adjudication on the merits; dismissal with prejudice is appropriate).

The judgment is affirmed. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. ______________________________

1 The Honorable Charles A. Shaw, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.

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