US v. Donald Beck

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 1:13-cr-00186-CCE-5 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999505132]. [14-4017, 14-4023]

Appeal: 14-4017

Doc: 61

Filed: 01/06/2015

Pg: 1 of 4

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-4017

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
DONALD RAY BECK,
Defendant - Appellant.

No. 14-4023

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ANGELA MICHELLE BECK,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Catherine C. Eagles,
District Judge. (1:13-cr-00186-CCE-5; 1:13-cr-00186-CCE-6)

Submitted:

November 10, 2014

Decided:

Before SHEDD, WYNN, and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

January 6, 2015

Appeal: 14-4017

Doc: 61

Filed: 01/06/2015

Pg: 2 of 4

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

James B. Craven III, Durham, North Carolina; Helen Parsonage,
ELLIOT MORGAN PARSONAGE, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for
Appellants.
Ripley Rand, United States Attorney, Graham T.
Green, Assistant United States Attorney, Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

2

Appeal: 14-4017

Doc: 61

Filed: 01/06/2015

Pg: 3 of 4

PER CURIAM:
In these consolidated appeals, Donald Ray Beck appeals
his

195-month

sentence

and

Angela

Michelle

Beck

appeals

her

189-month sentence imposed following their guilty pleas pursuant
to plea agreements to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more
of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(b)(1)(A),
846 (2012), and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug
trafficking

crime,

in

924(c)(1)(A)(i) (2012).

violation

of

18

U.S.C.

§§ 2,

The Government argues that the Becks’

appeals are foreclosed by the waiver of appeal rights in their
plea agreements.

We dismiss the appeals.

A criminal defendant may waive the right to appeal if
that

waiver

is

knowing

and

intelligent.

United

Poindexter, 492 F.3d 263, 270 (4th Cir. 2007).

States

v.

Generally, if

the district court fully questions a defendant regarding the
waiver of his right to appeal during a plea colloquy performed
in accordance with Fed. R. Crim. P. 11, the waiver is both valid
and enforceable.

United States v. Johnson, 410 F.3d 137, 151

(4th Cir. 2005).

Whether a defendant validly waived his right

to

appeal

is

United States v.

a

question

Blick,

408

of

law

we

review

F.3d

162,

168

(4th

de

novo.

Cir.

2005).

Where the Government seeks to enforce an appeal waiver and there
is no claim that it breached its obligations under the plea
agreement, we will enforce the waiver if the record establishes
3

Appeal: 14-4017

Doc: 61

Filed: 01/06/2015

Pg: 4 of 4

that (1) the defendant knowingly and intelligently agreed to
waive the right to appeal; and (2) the issue being appealed is
within the scope of the waiver.

Id. at 168 & n.5.

Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we
conclude that the Becks knowingly and voluntarily waived the
right

to

appeal

their

sentences

and

that

their

appellate

challenges fall squarely within the compasses of their waivers
of

appellate

rights.

We dispense

with

contentions

are

oral

Accordingly,
argument

adequately

we

because

presented

in

dismiss

the

appeals.

the

facts

and

the

materials

legal
before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

4