Background
Jose DeJesus Mejia-Fraijo appealed after pleading guilty to illegal reentry as a felon, which led to the revocation of his supervised release in an earlier case. His counsel moved to withdraw under Anders v. California and filed a brief challenging the substantive reasonableness of the sentences.
The court’s reasoning
The court concluded that Mejia-Fraijo’s sentences were not unreasonable because there was no indication the district court failed to consider the Section thirty-five fifty-three factors, gave significant weight to an improper factor, or committed a clear error of judgment. The court independently reviewed the record under Penson v. Ohio and found no non-frivolous issues for appeal.
What it means going forward
The decision affirms the lower court’s sentencing determinations and allows appointed counsel to withdraw from the appeal without further briefing on the merits.
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