US v. Prentise Wilkin

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 4:12-cr-00075-D-3 Copies to all parties and the district court. [999592490]. [14-4584]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-4584

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
PRENTISE JAVAUGHN WILKINS,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Greenville. James C. Dever III,
Chief District Judge. (4:12-cr-00075-D-3)

Submitted:

May 26, 2015

Decided:

May 29, 2015

Before NIEMEYER and DIAZ, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Lewis A. Thompson, III, BANZET, THOMPSON & STYERS, PLLC,
Warrenton, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Thomas G. Walker,
United States Attorney, Jennifer P. May-Parker, Yvonne V.
Watford-McKinney, Assistant United States Attorneys, Raleigh,
North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Prentise

Javaughn

Wilkins

appeals

his

sentence

of

276

months (60 months for Count 1 and 216 months consecutively for
Count 2) following his guilty plea pursuant to a plea agreement
to two counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a
crime

of

violence

Government

under

argues

that

18

U.S.C.

Wilkins’

§

924(c)(1)

appeal

of

(2012).

his

The

sentence

is

foreclosed by his waiver of appeal rights in his plea agreement.
For the reasons that follow, we dismiss the appeal.
A criminal defendant may waive the right to appeal if that
waiver is knowing and intelligent.
492 F.3d 263, 270 (4th Cir. 2007).

United States v. Poindexter,
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 a question of law this court reviews de novo.

United

States v. Blick, 408 F.3d 162, 168 (4th 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,

establishes

that

we

will

the

enforce

defendant

the

waiver

knowingly

and

if

the

record

intelligently

agreed to waive the right to appeal and the issue being appealed
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is within the scope of the waiver.

Id. at 169.

Upon review of

the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that Wilkins
knowingly

and

voluntarily

waived

the

right

to

appeal

his

sentence, except for circumstances not extant in this appeal,
and the issue he raises falls within the scope of the waiver.
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal of Wilkins’ sentence.
dispense

with

contentions

are

oral

argument

adequately

because

presented

in

the
the

facts

We

and

legal

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

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