US v. Yancey Cooper

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 1:08-cr-00239-BEL-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998851529].. [11-4734]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 11-4734

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
YANCEY COOPER,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore.
Benson Everett Legg, District Judge.
(1:08-cr-00239-BEL-1)

Submitted:

April 30, 2012

Decided:

May 10, 2012

Before DUNCAN, AGEE, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Sicilia Chinn Englert, LAWLOR & ENGLERT, LLC, Greenbelt,
Maryland, for Appellant.
Rod J. Rosenstein, United States
Attorney, Michael C. Hanlon, Assistant United States Attorney,
Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Yancey

Cooper

pleaded

guilty,

pursuant

to

a

plea

agreement, to one count of distribution of and possession with
intent to distribute fifty grams or more of cocaine base, in
violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A) (West 1999 &
Supp. 2011). The district court sentenced Cooper to 180 months’
imprisonment, as stipulated in the plea agreement pursuant to
Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1)(C).

Cooper contends on appeal that,

as a result of the district court’s omissions at the Fed. R.
Crim.

P.

11

voluntary.

colloquy,

his

guilty

plea

was

not

knowing

and

We affirm.
Because Cooper did not move in the district court to

withdraw his guilty plea, we review his claims for plain error.
United States v. Martinez, 277 F.3d 517, 524-25 (4th Cir. 2002).
To establish plain error, Cooper must show that: (1) an error
was made; (2) the error is plain; and (3) the error affects his
substantial rights.
(1993).
of

the

exercise

United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732

Even if Cooper makes this showing, however, correction
error

lies

unless

within

the

error

our

discretion,

“seriously

which

affects

we
the

will

not

fairness,

integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.”

Id.

(internal quotation marks, citations, and alteration omitted).
Cooper contends that his guilty plea was not knowing
and voluntary because the district court did not advise him that
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his guilty plea waived all antecedent non-jurisdictional defects
and failed to inform him about the waiver of trial rights and
the mandatory maximum and minimum penalties for his offense.
Even if there were omissions at the Rule 11 hearing,
Cooper is not entitled to relief because any errors did not
affect his substantial rights.

An error affects a defendant’s

substantial rights if it is so prejudicial as to affect the
outcome of the proceedings.

Martinez, 277 F.3d at 532.

In the

guilty plea context, a defendant meets this standard by showing
that he would not have pleaded guilty but for the Rule 11 error.
Id.

We conclude that Cooper has failed to make this showing.

Accordingly, we discern no plain error.
We therefore affirm the district court’s judgment. We
dispense

with

oral

argument

because

the

facts

and

legal

contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the
Court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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