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    United States v. Pedro Sifuentes, 4th Cir. (2013)

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    1) Pedro Garcia Sifuentes was convicted of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and possessing a firearm as an undocumented alien. He received a downward variant aggregate seventy-four month sentence. 2) Sifuentes' attorney filed an Anders brief stating there were no meritorious grounds for appeal but questioning whether Sifuentes received ineffective assistance regarding a sentencing guidelines cross-reference, and whether the government breached a plea agreement. 3) The court found that neither claim entitled Sifuentes to relief, as the ineffective assistance claim did not show deficient performance and the government was not shown to have acted in bad faith regarding the plea agreement. The court therefore affirmed Sif

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    United States v. Pedro Sifuentes, 4th Cir. (2013)

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    1) Pedro Garcia Sifuentes was convicted of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and possessing a firearm as an undocumented alien. He received a downward variant aggregate seventy-four month sentence. 2) Sifuentes' attorney filed an Anders brief stating there were no meritorious grounds for appeal but questioning whether Sifuentes received ineffective assistance regarding a sentencing guidelines cross-reference, and whether the government breached a plea agreement. 3) The court found that neither claim entitled Sifuentes to relief, as the ineffective assistance claim did not show deficient performance and the government was not shown to have acted in bad faith regarding the plea agreement. The court therefore affirmed Sif

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    Filed: 2013-01-08 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 12-4313

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    1) Pedro Garcia Sifuentes was convicted of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and possessing a firearm as an undocumented alien. He received a downward variant aggregate seventy-four month sentence. 2) Sifuentes' attorney filed an Anders brief stating there were no meritorious grounds for appeal but questioning whether Sifuentes received ineffective assistance regarding a sentencing guidelines cross-reference, and whether the government breached a plea agreement. 3) The court found that neither claim entitled Sifuentes to relief, as the ineffective assistance claim did not show deficient performance and the government was not shown to have acted in bad faith regarding the plea agreement. The court therefore affirmed Sif

    Copyright:

    Public Domain
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    109 views3 pages

    United States v. Pedro Sifuentes, 4th Cir. (2013)

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    Scribd Government Docs
    1) Pedro Garcia Sifuentes was convicted of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and possessing a firearm as an undocumented alien. He received a downward variant aggregate seventy-four month sentence. 2) Sifuentes' attorney filed an Anders brief stating there were no meritorious grounds for appeal but questioning whether Sifuentes received ineffective assistance regarding a sentencing guidelines cross-reference, and whether the government breached a plea agreement. 3) The court found that neither claim entitled Sifuentes to relief, as the ineffective assistance claim did not show deficient performance and the government was not shown to have acted in bad faith regarding the plea agreement. The court therefore affirmed Sif

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    of 3

    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

    No. 12-4313

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


    Plaintiff Appellee,
    v.
    PEDRO GARCIA SIFUENTES,
    Defendant - Appellant.

    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
    District of North Carolina, at Charlotte.
    Robert J. Conrad,
    Jr., Chief District Judge. (3:11-cr-00109-RJC-DCK-1)

    Submitted:

    December 20, 2012

    Decided:

    January 8, 2013

    Before AGEE, DAVIS, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.

    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

    John J. Cacheris, LAW OFFICE OF JOHN J. CACHERIS, P.C.,


    Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant.
    Amy Elizabeth Ray,
    Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville, North Carolina, for
    Appellee.

    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

    PER CURIAM:
    Pedro
    aggregate

    Garcia

    Sifuentes

    seventy-four-month

    appeals

    downward

    his

    conviction

    and

    sentence

    for

    variant

    possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime,


    in violation of 18 U.S.C. 924(c) (2006), and for possessing a
    firearm as

    an

    922(g)(5)

    undocumented

    (2006).

    alien,

    Sifuentes

    in

    violation

    counsel

    has

    of

    18

    filed

    U.S.C.

    brief

    pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), in which


    he

    states

    appeal,

    that

    but

    he

    could

    questioning

    identify
    (1)

    no

    whether

    meritorious
    Sifuentes

    issues
    was

    for

    denied

    effective assistance of counsel with respect to the application


    to

    his

    922(g)(5)

    Sentencing

    sentence

    Guidelines

    Manual

    of

    cross-reference

    (USSG)

    under

    2K2.1(c)(1)(A),

    U.S.
    and

    (2) whether the Government breached the plea agreement when it


    declined to make a substantial assistance motion on Sifuentes
    behalf.
    As counsel recognizes, neither of the claims raised by
    Sifuentes

    entitles

    him

    to

    relief.

    Sifuentes

    ineffective

    assistance claim suffers from the obvious defect that it fails


    to identify how his trial counsel performed deficiently.

    His

    trial counsel did, after all, challenge the application of the


    cross-reference before the district court.

    The mere fact that

    counsel failed to convince the district court that his position


    was

    correct

    does

    not

    conclusively
    2

    establish[

    ineffective

    assistance, and we therefore decline to review Sifuentes claim


    on direct appeal.

    United States v. Baptiste, 596 F.3d 214, 216

    n.1 (4th Cir. 2010).


    Sifuentes is similarly incorrect in claiming that the
    Government breached the plea agreement when it did not move for
    a downward departure based on substantial assistance, as the
    record suggests no reason to surmise that the Government acted
    in bad faith or with an unconstitutional motive in declining to
    file

    substantial

    assistance

    motion.

    See

    United

    States

    v.

    Snow, 234 F.3d 187, 191 (4th Cir. 2000).


    In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire
    record in this case and have found no meritorious issues for
    appeal.

    We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.

    This court requires that counsel inform Sifuentes, in writing,


    of the right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States
    for further review.
    filed,

    but

    counsel

    If Sifuentes requests that a petition be


    believes

    that

    such

    petition

    would

    be

    frivolous, then counsel may move in this court for leave to


    withdraw from representation.

    Counsels motion must state that

    a copy thereof was served on Sifuentes.

    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.
    AFFIRMED
    3

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