United States v. Friday Gardner

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 25-3412 ___________________________ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee v. Friday Deel Gardner, also known as Oblock lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Eastern ____________ Submitted: May 26, 2026 Filed: May 29, 2026 [Unpublished] ____________ Before GRUENDER, KELLY, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM.

Friday Gardner appeals after he pleaded guilty to drug-distribution and firearm offenses and the district court1 imposed a within-Guidelines sentence. His counsel The Honorable C.J. Williams, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. has moved for leave to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the sentence as substantively unreasonable.

We conclude that the within-Guidelines sentence Gardner received is not substantively unreasonable. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (abuse of discretion standard of review); see also United States v. Callaway, 762 F.3d 754, 760 (8th Cir. 2014) (stating that a sentence within the Guidelines range is presumed reasonable, and district courts are allowed wide latitude in weighing the sentencing factors). The district court properly considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, and there is no indication that the court overlooked a relevant factor, gave significant weight to an improper or irrelevant factor, or committed a clear error of judgment in weighing the relevant factors. See Feemster, 572 F.3d at 461. We have also independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no non-frivolous issues for appeal.

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment, and we grant counsel leave to withdraw. ______________________________

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