United States of America v. Efrain Cardenas Alcaras

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
EFRAIN CARDENAS ALCARAS,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 18-50292
D.C. No. 2:17-cr-00755-PSG-1
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Philip S. Gutierrez, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted May 21, 2019**
Before: THOMAS, Chief Judge, FRIEDLAND and BENNETT, Circuit Judges.
Efrain Cardenas Alcaras appeals from the district court’s judgment and
challenges his guilty-plea conviction and 151-month sentence for conspiracy to
distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.
§ 846. Pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), Cardenas Alcaras’s
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
MAY 23 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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2 18-50292
counsel has filed a brief stating that there are no grounds for relief, along with a
motion to withdraw as counsel of record. We have provided Cardenas Alcaras the
opportunity to file a pro se supplemental brief. No pro se supplemental brief or
answering brief has been filed.
Cardenas Alcaras waived his right to appeal his conviction, with the
exception of an appeal based on a claim that his plea was involuntary. He also
waived the right to appeal his sentence, provided the court imposed a total term of
imprisonment of 151 months and 5 years of supervised release. Our independent
review of the record pursuant to Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75, 80 (1988), discloses
no arguable grounds for relief as to the voluntariness of Cardenas Alcaras’s plea.
We therefore affirm as to that issue and dismiss the remainder of the appeal of the
conviction and sentence in light of the valid appeal waiver. See United States v.
Watson, 582 F.3d 974, 988 (9th Cir. 2009).
Counsel’s motion to withdraw is GRANTED.
AFFIRMED in part; DISMISSED in part.

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