USA v. Ryan Cofer
Filing
OPINION filed : AFFIRMED, decision not for publication pursuant to local rule 206. Eugene E. Siler , Jr., Circuit Judge; R. Guy Cole , Jr., Authoring Circuit Judge and Raymond M. Kethledge, Circuit Judge.
Case: 09-4579
Document: 006111005485
Filed: 07/06/2011
Page: 1
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 11a0456n.06
FILED
No. 09-4579
Jul 06, 2011
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
RYAN COFER,
Defendant-Appellant.
BEFORE:
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LEONARD GREEN, Clerk
ON APPEAL FROM THE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN
DISTRICT OF OHIO
OPINION
SILER, COLE, and KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judges.
COLE, Circuit Judge. After unsuccessfully challenging the legality of a search that
uncovered child pornography on several computer disks in his residence, Ryan Cofer pleaded guilty
to possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). Because Cofer had a
prior conviction under § 2252, the district court imposed a ten-year statutory minimum sentence of
incarceration. See 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2). Cofer now appeals, contending the search of his
residence violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the imposition of
a ten-year statutory minimum sentence violated his Sixth Amendment rights as elaborated in
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and its progeny.
We cannot reach the first challenge because Cofer waived the right to contest the legality of
the search by not preserving that right in the plea agreement. See United States v. Young, 580 F.3d
373, 376 (6th Cir. 2009) (“[A] guilty-pleading defendant may not appeal an adverse pre-plea ruling
Case: 09-4579
Document: 006111005485
Filed: 07/06/2011
Page: 2
No. 09-4579
United States v. Cofer
on a motion to suppress evidence unless he has preserved the right to do so in a written plea
agreement under Criminal Rule 11(a)(2).”).
The remaining claim is meritless. Section 2252(b)(2) requires the district court to impose
a minimum sentence of ten years’ incarceration where a defendant previously committed a qualifying
prior conviction, see 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2), and Apprendi explicitly permits a district court to find
such a fact and rely on it to increase a defendant’s punishment. See Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490.
We AFFIRM Cofer’s sentence.
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