Filed: Sep. 21, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit _ No. 15-1197 _ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee v. Shedrick Xavier Pujoe lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant _ Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Davenport _ Submitted: September 15, 2015 Filed: September 21, 2015 [Unpublished] _ Before LOKEN, BOWMAN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. _ PER CURIAM. Shedrick Pujoe appeals from the judgment of the District Court1 en
Summary: United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit _ No. 15-1197 _ United States of America lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee v. Shedrick Xavier Pujoe lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant _ Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Davenport _ Submitted: September 15, 2015 Filed: September 21, 2015 [Unpublished] _ Before LOKEN, BOWMAN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. _ PER CURIAM. Shedrick Pujoe appeals from the judgment of the District Court1 ent..
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United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
___________________________
No. 15-1197
___________________________
United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Shedrick Xavier Pujoe
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
____________
Appeal from United States District Court
for the Southern District of Iowa - Davenport
____________
Submitted: September 15, 2015
Filed: September 21, 2015
[Unpublished]
____________
Before LOKEN, BOWMAN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
____________
PER CURIAM.
Shedrick Pujoe appeals from the judgment of the District Court1 entered upon
a jury verdict finding him guilty of possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or
1
The Honorable Stephanie M. Rose, United States District Judge for the
Southern District of Iowa.
more of actual methamphetamine. In a brief filed under Anders v. California,
386
U.S. 738 (1967), counsel challenges (1) the denial of Pujoe’s motion to suppress
evidence seized from his hotel room; (2) the sufficiency of the evidence to support
the conviction; and (3) the reasonableness of Pujoe’s 180-month prison sentence.
After careful review, we conclude that the denial of the motion to suppress was
proper. In particular, we agree with the District Court’s finding, made after hearing
testimony at a suppression hearing, that the search-warrant affidavit—which included
information that police had received a tip about narcotics being sold from a particular
hotel room and that a drug dog had alerted outside the hotel room in question to the
presence of drugs inside the room—provided a substantial basis for finding probable
cause to search the hotel room. See United States v. Keele,
589 F.3d 940, 944 (8th
Cir. 2009). As to the sufficiency of the evidence, at trial there was police testimony
that over 70 grams of pure methamphetamine had been found in the hotel room where
Pujoe was staying, and there was also witness testimony that Pujoe had been selling
methamphetamine. This evidence amply supports the verdict. See United States v.
Vore,
743 F.3d 1175, 1180–81 (8th Cir. 2014). Further, there is no basis to conclude
that the 180-month prison term, representing a 30-month variance below the
uncontested U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range, is substantively unreasonable. See
Gall v. United States,
552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). Finally, we have conducted an
independent review under Penson v. Ohio,
488 U.S. 75, 80 (1988), and we find no
nonfrivolous issues.
We affirm the judgment of the District Court, and we grant counsel’s motion
to withdraw.
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