Opinion
21-2520
02-15-2022
United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Herman Lee Ronnfeldt Defendant-Appellant
UNPUBLISHED
Submitted: February 10, 2022
Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa - Eastern
Before COLLOTON, SHEPHERD, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM
Herman Ronnfeldt appeals the sentence the district court imposed after he pled guilty to a drug offense. His counsel moved to withdraw and filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), challenging the district court's decision to depart upward based on Ronnfeldt's criminal history and arguing the sentence is substantively unreasonable.
The Honorable C.J. Williams, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa.
After careful review of the record, we conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion in departing upward. See U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3(a)(1) ("If reliable information indicates that the defendant's criminal history category substantially under-represents the seriousness of the defendant's criminal history or the likelihood that the defendant will commit other crimes, an upward departure may be warranted."); United States v. King, 627 F.3d 321, 323 (8th Cir. 2010) (standard of review). We also conclude the sentence is substantively reasonable. See United States v. Brown, 992 F.3d 665, 673 (8th Cir. 2021) (standard of review); United States v. Jones, 639 F.3d 484, 488 (8th Cir. 2011) (noting a sentence within the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual range, even one following a § 4A1.3 upward departure, enjoys presumption of reasonableness).
Further, having independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. Accordingly, we grant counsel leave to withdraw and affirm.