Opinion
No. 16-3726
05-01-2017
United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Mario Deshawn Stevenson Defendant - Appellant
Appeal from United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Waterloo [Unpublished] Before RILEY, MURPHY, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM.
Mario Stevenson directly appeals the below-Guidelines-range sentence the district court imposed after he pleaded guilty to a drug charge. His counsel has moved for leave to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), arguing that the sentence is substantively unreasonable and that the district court should have varied downward even further. Stevenson has not filed a pro se brief.
The Honorable Leonard T. Strand, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. --------
We conclude that the district court did not impose a substantively unreasonable sentence. See United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d 455, 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (describing appellate review of sentencing decisions); see also United States v. McCauley, 715 F.3d 1119, 1127 (8th Cir. 2013) (noting that when district court has varied below Guidelines range, it is "nearly inconceivable" that court abused its discretion in not varying downward further). In addition, 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 for leave to withdraw, and we affirm.