Background
Ernesto Leyva appealed his conviction and sentence following a jury finding of guilt for a drug conspiracy offense. His counsel moved to withdraw and filed a brief under Anders v. California. Leyva challenged the denial of a motion to sever, the sufficiency of the evidence, the admission of firearm testimony, and the Guidelines calculations.
The court’s reasoning
The court concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to sever. It found the jurors had sufficient evidence to find Leyva guilty of a conspiracy involving at least one hundred grams of fentanyl analogue mixture. The court rejected the argument regarding firearm testimony and found no plain error in the drug quantity determination. It also found no clear error in concluding Leyva possessed a firearm in connection with the offense and maintained a drug premises. After an independent review under Penson v. Ohio, the court found no non-frivolous issues for appeal.
What it means going forward
The judgment is affirmed and counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted, ending the appeal without further briefing on the merits.