UNITED STATES v. PINKNEY (2018)

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dontae PINKNEY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 17-4297

Decided: January 22, 2018

Before MOTZ, TRAXLER, and KING, Circuit Judges. John E. Duncan, Lexington, South Carolina, for Appellant. Beth Drake, United States Attorney, Jimmie Ewing, Jane Barrett Taylor, Assistant United States Attorneys, Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.

Dontae Pinkney seeks to appeal the 125-month sentence imposed following his guilty plea to Hobbs Act robbery, 18 U.S.C. § 1951 (2012). On appeal, he argues that the district court abused its discretion in upwardly departing, which resulted in an unreasonable sentence. The Government seeks to dismiss the appeal as barred by Pinkney’s waiver of the right to appeal included in the plea agreement. Upon review of the plea agreement and the transcript of the Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 hearing, we conclude that Pinkney knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal and that the issue Pinkney seeks to raise on appeal falls squarely within the compass of his waiver of appellate rights. See United States v. Archie, 771 F.3d 217, 221 (4th Cir. 2014). We therefore dismiss the appeal.

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

PER CURIAM:

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.