United States v. Christopher Lee

1The Honorable Mark W. Bennett, United States District Judge for the Northern
District of Iowa.
United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
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No. 06-3156
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United States of America, *
*
Appellee, *
* Appeal from the United States
v. * District Court for the
* Northern District of Iowa.
Raul Chavez-Rios, *
* [UNPUBLISHED]
Appellant. *
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Submitted: September 6, 2007
Filed: September 14, 2007
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Before BYE, RILEY, and MELLOY, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Raul Chavez-Rios (Chavez-Rios) pled guilty to conspiring to distribute
methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a park, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1),
(b)(1)(A), (b)(1)(B), 860(a), and 846 (Count 1); and distributing methamphetamine
within 1,000 feet of a park, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and
860(a) (Counts 2-4). Chavez-Rios acknowledged before entering his plea that he was
subject to a statutory mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison on Count 1. The
district court 1 sentenced Chavez-Rios to the statutory minimum 120 months’

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imprisonment and 5 years’ supervised release with the sentences on the counts to run
concurrently. On appeal, Chavez-Rios’s counsel filed a brief pursuant to Anders v.
California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), arguing the sentence is unreasonable under United
States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005). This argument is unavailing. Because
Chavez-Rios did not qualify for a substantial-assistance departure or for safety-valve
relief, the district court had no authority to impose a sentence below the statutory
minimum. See United States v. Gregg, 451 F.3d 930, 937 (8th Cir. 2006); United
States v. Chacon, 330 F.3d 1065, 1066 (8th Cir. 2003).
After reviewing the record independently under Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75,
80 (1988), we have found no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. We grant counsel leave
to withdraw, and we affirm.
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