UNITED STATES v. ANDERSON (2020)

[Unpublished]

The district court ¹ gave Cornelius Anderson a 60-month prison sentence for conspiring to sell stolen firearms. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 922(j). In an Anders brief, Anderson’s counsel seeks permission to withdraw and challenges a sentence enhancement for trafficking firearms and the lack of a reduction for acceptance of responsibility. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).

There is adequate support in the record for the firearms-trafficking enhancement. See United States v. Willett, 623 F.3d 546, 548–49 (8th Cir. 2010) (discussing the standard of review); see also U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(5). Anderson’s plea stipulations and other evidence established that he personally facilitated the sale of at least two stolen firearms. See Willett, 623 F.3d at 549. The district court also had reason to deny an acceptance-of-responsibility reduction, because Anderson later attempted to deny at sentencing what he had already admitted in his plea agreement. See United States v. Davis, 875 F.3d 869, 875 (8th Cir. 2017) (affirming the denial of a reduction because the defendant had “denied much of the conduct relevant to her convictions”).

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 conclude that there are no other non-frivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment and grant counsel permission to withdraw.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.

PER CURIAM.