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United States v. Sims

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit
Jun 5, 2018
No. 17-3104 (8th Cir. Jun. 5, 2018)

Opinion

No. 17-3104

06-05-2018

United States of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Darrell Junior Sims, Defendant - Appellant.


Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Cedar Rapids [Unpublished] Before LOKEN, COLLOTON, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM.

After a jury found Darrell Sims guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the district court sentenced him to 120 months in prison. Sims's counsel has moved for leave to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, the district court's application of an obstruction-of-justice Guidelines enhancement, and the district court's reliance on a prior Illinois controlled-substance conviction to set Sims's base offense level.

The Honorable Leonard T. Strand, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. --------

We conclude that the witness testimony, the recorded phone calls, the evidence that the firearms had traveled in interstate commerce, and the stipulation that Sims had been convicted of a felony were sufficient to support the jury verdict. See United States v. Spight, 817 F.3d 1099, 1102 (8th Cir. 2016) (standard of review); United States v. Cowling, 648 F.3d 690, 699-700 (8th Cir. 2011) (stating elements for § 922(g)(1) conviction). As to the sentencing issues, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err in applying the obstruction-of-justice enhancement, see United States v. Calderon-Avila, 322 F.3d 505, 507 (8th Cir. 2003) (per curiam) (standard of review), and that the district court did not plainly err in calculating the base offense level, see United States v. Lovelace, 565 F.3d 1080, 1087 (8th Cir. 2009) (standard of review); see also United States v. Jones, 882 F.3d 1169 (8th Cir. 2018).

Finally, we have independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), and have found no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we grant counsel's motion to withdraw, and we affirm.


Summaries of

United States v. Sims

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit
Jun 5, 2018
No. 17-3104 (8th Cir. Jun. 5, 2018)
Case details for

United States v. Sims

Case Details

Full title:United States of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Darrell Junior Sims…

Court:United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit

Date published: Jun 5, 2018

Citations

No. 17-3104 (8th Cir. Jun. 5, 2018)