UNITED STATES v. ROCK (2018)

[Unpublished]

George Rock appeals the above-guidelines sentence the district court ¹ imposed after he pleaded guilty to a felon-in-possession offense. His counsel has moved for leave to withdraw and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), presenting as an issue whether Rock's sentence is unreasonable.

Upon careful review, we conclude that Rock's sentence is not unreasonable. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (reviewing sentence under deferential abuse-of-discretion standard); United States v. Mangum, 625 F.3d 466, 469-70 (8th Cir. 2010) (holding that upward variance was reasonable where court made individualized assessment of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors based on facts presented and considered defendant's proffered information). In addition, having independently reviewed the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 109 S.Ct. 346, 102 L.Ed.2d 300 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. “We remind counsel, however, of their obligation in filing an Anders brief. Such a brief must be done as an advocate for the appellant, not the government, and should refer to anything in the record that might arguably support the appeal.” See United States v. Frazier, 133 F.3d 923, 923 (8th Cir. 1997) (per curiam) (citing Evans v. Clarke, 868 F.2d 267, 268 (8th Cir. 1989) ).

Accordingly, we grant counsel leave to withdraw, and we affirm.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The Honorable Greg Kays, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

PER CURIAM.