United States v. Blessman, 10th Cir. (2009)
United States v. Blessman, 10th Cir. (2009)
June 4, 2009
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALSElisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
No. 08-4182
Defendant-Appellant.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously to honor the appellants request for a decision on the briefs without
oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is,
therefore, submitted without oral argument.
Defendant Russell Eugene Blessman pleaded guilty to three counts of
possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(5)(B).
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited,
however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th
Cir. R. 32.1.
Rule 11 provides that the government and the defendant may agree that a
specific sentence . . . is the appropriate disposition of the case . . . . Fed. R.
Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C).
2
the state or federal courts in Iowa. Prior to sentencing, the probation officer
disclosed the presentence investigation report (PSR), which calculated a
sentencing guideline range of 151 to 188 months of imprisonment and
acknowledged the Rule 11 plea agreement. Neither side objected to the PSR. 2 On
September 17, 2008, the district court sentenced defendant to a term of
imprisonment of 276 months, ordered to run concurrently with any Iowa sentence,
and supervised release for life. Defendant has since filed a timely notice of
appeal.
II
Under Anders, defense counsel may request permission to withdraw where
counsel conscientiously examines a case and determines that any appeal would be
wholly frivolous. United States v. Calderon, 428 F.3d 928, 930 (10th Cir. 2005).
In such a case, counsel must submit a brief to the client and the appellate court
indicating any potential appealable issues based on the record. Id. The client
may then choose to submit arguments to the court in response. The court must
then fully examine the record to determine whether defendants claims are
wholly frivolous. Id. If so, the court may dismiss the appeal.
Here, defendants counsel have identified two potential bases for appeal:
(1) whether defendants guilty plea was voluntary; and (2) whether the sentence
2
As for defendants sentence, our review of the plea agreement, PSR, and
the sentencing hearing transcript confirms the sentence was both procedurally and
substantively reasonable. See United States v. Algarate-Valencia, 550 F.3d 1238,
1242 (10th Cir. 2008) (Appellate courts review sentencing decisions first for
procedural reasonableness, and then for substantive reasonableness.). Even
though the sentence was above the calculated guideline range, it was reasonable
in light of defendants Rule 11 agreement in which defendant agreed to a
substantial upward variance. His willingness to enter into such an agreement was
based in part upon his obvious desire to have his federal sentence run
concurrently with any term of imprisonment from his pending state charges in
Iowa, and to serve his term of imprisonment in a federal, rather than state, prison.
Accordingly, we conclude defendant has failed to provide any nonfrivolous basis
for reversing his conviction or remanding the case for resentencing.
Counsels motion to withdraw is GRANTED and the appeal is
DISMISSED.
Entered for the Court