UNITED STATES v. JAMES (2017)

[Unpublished]

In this direct criminal appeal, Gregory James challenges the sentence the district court ¹ imposed following his guilty plea to a child-support offense. His counsel has moved to withdraw and submitted a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), challenging the denial of acceptance of responsibility points, and a probation condition.

We conclude that the district court did not clearly err in denying acceptance-of-responsibility points, see United States v. Bastian, 603 F.3d 460, 465 (8th Cir. 2010) (standard of review), see United States v. Spurlock, 495 F.3d 1011, 1014 (8th Cir. 2007), and, in any event, any error was harmless, as James was sentenced below the Guidelines range that would have applied had he been granted a 3-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility, see United States v. Stong, 773 F.3d 920, 926 (8th Cir. 2014); and that his challenge to the probation condition is unavailing. Finally, we have independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 109 S.Ct. 346, 102 L.Ed.2d 300 (1988), and have found no non-frivolous issues for appeal.

Accordingly, we grant counsel’s motion, and affirm.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The Honorable Karen E. Schreier, United States District Judge for the District of South Dakota.

PER CURIAM.