United States v. Francisco Velasquez

Filing

PER CURIAM OPINION FILED - THE COURT: Raymond W. Gruender, Morris S. Arnold and Duane Benton (UNPUBLISHED) [4045213] [12-3348]

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 12-3348
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllll Appellee
v.
Francisco Velasquez, also known as Cisco,
also known as Angel Paez-Alvaro
lllllllllllllllllllll Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Western District of Arkansas
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Submitted: June 10, 2013
Filed: June 14, 2013
[Unpublished]
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Before GRUENDER, ARNOLD, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.

Appellate Case: 12-3348

Page: 1

Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Entry ID: 4045213

Francisco Velasquez pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute
methamphetamine, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 846, and the district court1 sentenced
him to 198 months' imprisonment. He contends, first of all, without elaboration, that
his sentence is unconstitutional and "asks that the entire record be reviewed" to
determine if any error occurred in "the conviction and sentencing process." Treating
this part of Mr. Velasquez's brief as an Anders brief, see Anders v. California,
386 U.S. 738 (1967), we have undertaken an independent review pursuant to Penson
v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80 (1988), and have discovered no non-frivolous issues for
appeal.
Mr. Velasquez also maintains, again without elaboration, that he was denied
his Sixth-Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel in the district court, see
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). But we do not entertain such claims
on direct appeal of a conviction unless a record supporting those claims has been
made in the district court or "the result would otherwise be a plain miscarriage of
justice." See United States v. Hernandez, 281 F.3d 746 (8th Cir. 2002). Neither
exception applies in this case.
Affirmed.
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1

The Honorable Jimm Larry Hendren, United States District Judge for the
Western District of Arkansas.
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Appellate Case: 12-3348

Page: 2

Date Filed: 06/14/2013 Entry ID: 4045213