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    United States v. Patrick Wazny, 4th Cir. (2012)

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    The defendant pleaded guilty to charges of distributing and possessing child pornography. He was sentenced to 340 months in prison. As part of his plea agreement, the defendant waived his right to appeal his sentence. The appellate court dismissed the appeal of the sentence because the waiver was knowing and voluntary. The court reviewed the remainder of the case as required by Anders and found no issues meriting an appeal. The convictions were affirmed and the appeal of the sentence was dismissed based on the valid waiver.

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    United States v. Patrick Wazny, 4th Cir. (2012)

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    Scribd Government Docs
    166 views4 pages
    The defendant pleaded guilty to charges of distributing and possessing child pornography. He was sentenced to 340 months in prison. As part of his plea agreement, the defendant waived his right to appeal his sentence. The appellate court dismissed the appeal of the sentence because the waiver was knowing and voluntary. The court reviewed the remainder of the case as required by Anders and found no issues meriting an appeal. The convictions were affirmed and the appeal of the sentence was dismissed based on the valid waiver.

    Original Description:

    Filed: 2012-05-10 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 11-4954

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    The defendant pleaded guilty to charges of distributing and possessing child pornography. He was sentenced to 340 months in prison. As part of his plea agreement, the defendant waived his right to appeal his sentence. The appellate court dismissed the appeal of the sentence because the waiver was knowing and voluntary. The court reviewed the remainder of the case as required by Anders and found no issues meriting an appeal. The convictions were affirmed and the appeal of the sentence was dismissed based on the valid waiver.

    Copyright:

    Public Domain
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf
    166 views4 pages

    United States v. Patrick Wazny, 4th Cir. (2012)

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    The defendant pleaded guilty to charges of distributing and possessing child pornography. He was sentenced to 340 months in prison. As part of his plea agreement, the defendant waived his right to appeal his sentence. The appellate court dismissed the appeal of the sentence because the waiver was knowing and voluntary. The court reviewed the remainder of the case as required by Anders and found no issues meriting an appeal. The convictions were affirmed and the appeal of the sentence was dismissed based on the valid waiver.

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    of 4

    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

    No. 11-4954

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    v.
    PATRICK AARON WAZNY,
    Defendant - Appellant.

    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
    District of North Carolina, at Wilmington. Louise W. Flanagan,
    Chief District Judge. (7:10-cr-00125-FL-1)

    Submitted:

    April 24, 2012

    Decided:

    May 10, 2012

    Before KEENAN, DIAZ, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.

    Dismissed in part; affirmed in part by unpublished per curiam


    opinion.

    Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, G. Alan DuBois,


    Assistant Federal Public Defender, James E. Todd, Jr., Research
    and Writing Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant.
    Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant United States Attorney,
    Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

    PER CURIAM:
    Patrick

    Aaron

    Wazny

    pleaded

    guilty,

    pursuant

    to

    written plea agreement, to one count of distribution of child


    pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. 2252(a)(1) (West 2006
    & Supp. 2011), and one count of possession of child pornography,
    in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. 2252(a)(2).

    The district court

    calculated Waznys Guidelines range under the U.S. Sentencing


    Guidelines Manual (2010) at 324 to 360 months imprisonment and
    sentenced Wazny to 240 months imprisonment on the distribution
    count and a consecutive sentence of 100 months imprisonment on
    the

    possession

    months.

    count,

    for

    total

    imprisonment

    term

    of

    340

    On appeal, Waznys counsel has filed a brief pursuant

    to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating that there


    are no meritorious issues for appeal, but questioning whether
    the district court erred in the manner in which it determined
    that consecutive prison terms were warranted in Waznys case.
    The

    Government

    has

    moved

    to

    dismiss

    the

    appeal

    sentence based on his waiver of appellate rights.

    of

    Waznys

    We dismiss in

    part and affirm in part.


    A

    defendant

    may

    waive

    the

    waiver is knowing and intelligent.


    492 F.3d 263, 270 (4th Cir. 2007).

    right

    to

    appeal

    if

    that

    United States v. Poindexter,


    Generally, if the district

    court fully questions a defendant regarding the waiver of his


    right to appeal during the plea colloquy performed in accordance
    2

    with

    Fed.

    R.

    enforceable.

    Crim.

    P.

    United

    (4th Cir. 2005).

    11,

    States

    the
    v.

    waiver

    is

    Johnson,

    both

    410

    F.3d

    valid

    and

    137,

    151

    Whether a defendant validly waived his right

    to appeal is a question of law that this Court reviews de novo.


    United States v. Blick, 408 F.3d 162, 168 (4th Cir. 2005).
    Our review of the record leads us to conclude that
    Wazny knowingly and voluntarily waived the right to appeal his
    340-month prison sentence.

    We therefore grant the Governments

    motion to dismiss and dismiss the appeal of Waznys sentence.


    Although

    Waznys

    appeal

    waiver

    insulates

    his

    sentence

    from

    appellate review, the waiver does not prohibit our review of his
    convictions pursuant to Anders.

    In accordance with Anders, we

    have reviewed the remainder of the record in this case and have
    found no meritorious issues for review.

    We therefore affirm

    Waznys convictions and dismiss the appeal of his sentence.


    This
    writing,

    of

    Court

    the

    requires

    right

    to

    that

    petition

    United States for further review.

    counsel
    the

    inform

    Supreme

    Wazny,

    Court

    of

    in
    the

    If Wazny requests that a

    petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a 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 Wazny.


    We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
    legal

    contentions

    are

    adequately
    3

    presented

    in

    the

    materials

    before

    the

    Court

    and

    argument

    would

    not

    aid

    the

    decisional

    process.
    DISMISSED IN PART;
    AFFIRMED IN PART

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