United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 20-2802 ___________________________

Larry Rice,

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant,

v.

Interfood, Inc.; Tepco, B.V.,

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees. ____________

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

Submitted: August 9, 2021 Filed: August 12, 2021 [Unpublished] ____________

Before LOKEN, COLLOTON, and STRAS, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Missouri resident Larry Rice appeals following the district court’s1 dismissal of his pro se diversity action. We conclude that the court did not err in accepting

1 The Honorable Henry E. Autrey, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. jurisdiction, as the record sufficiently showed that the amount in controversy exceeded $75,000, see 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), and that the case was properly dismissed for failure to state a claim and for insufficient service. We also conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing monetary sanctions based on its findings that Rice’s claims were not warranted by existing law, and were presented for the improper purpose of harassing defendants and needlessly increasing their costs of litigation. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(c); Clark v. UPS, 460 F.3d 1004, 1008 (8th Cir. 2006); Carman v. Treat, 7 F.3d 1379, 1382 (8th Cir. 1993). Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. ______________________________

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