Opinion
No. 18-50292
05-23-2019
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. EFRAIN CARDENAS ALCARAS, Defendant-Appellant.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
D.C. No. 2:17-cr-00755-PSG-1 MEMORANDUM Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California
Philip S. Gutierrez, District Judge, Presiding Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, FRIEDLAND and BENNETT, Circuit Judges.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
Efrain Cardenas Alcaras appeals from the district court's judgment and challenges his guilty-plea conviction and 151-month sentence for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), Cardenas Alcaras's counsel has filed a brief stating that there are no grounds for relief, along with a motion to withdraw as counsel of record. We have provided Cardenas Alcaras the opportunity to file a pro se supplemental brief. No pro se supplemental brief or answering brief has been filed.
Cardenas Alcaras waived his right to appeal his conviction, with the exception of an appeal based on a claim that his plea was involuntary. He also waived the right to appeal his sentence, provided the court imposed a total term of imprisonment of 151 months and 5 years of supervised release. Our independent review of the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80 (1988), discloses no arguable grounds for relief as to the voluntariness of Cardenas Alcaras's plea. We therefore affirm as to that issue and dismiss the remainder of the appeal of the conviction and sentence in light of the valid appeal waiver. See United States v. Watson, 582 F.3d 974, 988 (9th Cir. 2009).
Counsel's motion to withdraw is GRANTED.
AFFIRMED in part; DISMISSED in part.