U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2010

United States v. Hector Cruz

United States v. Hector Cruz
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided July 2, 2010 · Fletcher, Pregerson, Clifton
386 F. App'x 597

United States v. Hector Cruz

Opinion

MEMORANDUM *

Appellant Hector Cruz pled guilty to distributing 50 grams or more of metham *598 phetamine and agreed to a waiver of the right to appeal. In exchange, the government dropped all other charges against him. His attorney has filed an Anders 1 brief in this appeal and has moved to withdraw as counsel. Cruz has filed no pro se supplemental brief in response to the court’s invitation to do so.

Having examined the record, we conclude that Cruz entered into the plea agreement and agreed to the waiver of appellate rights knowingly and voluntarily, and that the district court complied with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11. See United States v. Nguyen, 235 F.3d 1179, 1182 (9th Cir. 2000).

The waiver of appellate rights to which Cruz agreed waives any challenge to his sentence, unless the sentence exceeded the applicable guideline range as determined by the district court, which it did not. Thus, the waiver applies to any possible challenge to Cruz’s sentence, with two recognized exceptions: a claim that the sentence did not comport with the terms of the plea agreement, and a claim that the sentence violated the law. See United States v. Bibler, 495 F.3d 621, 624 (9th Cir. 2007). Here, however, the sentence comported with the terms of the plea agreement and is not unlawful. Accordingly we dismiss the appeal. We grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

DISMISSED; COUNSEL’S MOTION TO WITHDRAW GRANTED.

*

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.

1

. Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).

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