USA v. Wright

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA
CEDAR RAPIDS DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 25-CR-48 CJW-MAR
Plaintiff,
vs. ORDER REGARDING MAGISTRATE
JUDGE’S REPORT AND
RECOMMENDATION
CONCERNING DEFENDANT’S
GUILTY PLEA
EDINTON GRUGBAY WRIGHT,
Defendant.
____________________
I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
On June 4, 2025, a one-count Indictment was filed against defendant. On
December 11, 2025, defendant appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Mark A.
Roberts and entered a plea of guilty to count one of the Indictment. On December 11,
2025, Judge Roberts filed a Report and Recommendation in which he recommended that
defendant’s guilty plea be accepted. On December 9, 2025, the government filed a
waiver of objections to Report and Recommendation signed by all parties. The Court,
therefore, undertakes the necessary review of Judge Roberts’ recommendation to accept
defendant’s plea in this case.
II. ANALYSIS
Pursuant to statute, this Court’s standard of review for a magistrate judge’s report
and recommendation is as follows:
A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of
those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or
recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of the
court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the
findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.
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28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). Where parties make no objections to a magistrate’s report
and recommendation, the Court reviews the magistrate’s report and recommendation
for clear error. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). Similarly, Federal Rule of Criminal
Procedure 59(b) provides for review of a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation
on dispositive motions, where objections are made, as follows:
The district judge must consider de novo any objection to the
magistrate judge’s recommendation. The district judge may
accept, reject, or modify the recommendation, receive further
evidence, or resubmit the matter to the magistrate judge with
instructions.
FED. R. CRIM. P. 59(b)(3).1
In this case, defendant filed a waiver of objections to the report and
recommendation, and it appears to the Court upon review that Judge Roberts’ findings
and conclusions are not clearly erroneous. Therefore, the Court ACCEPTS Judge
Roberts’ Report and Recommendation of December 11, 2025, and ACCEPTS
defendant’s plea of guilty in this case to count one of the Indictment.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 12th day of December, 2025.
____________________________
C.J. Williams, Chief Judge
United States District Court
Northern District of Iowa
1 United States v. Cortez-Hernandez, 673 F. App’x 587, 590-91 (8th Cir. 2016) (per curiam),
suggests that a defendant may have the right to de novo review of a magistrate judge’s
recommendation to accept a plea of guilty even if no objection is filed.
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