Appeal Dismissed Where Plea Agreement Reserved Right to Raise Argument in District Court, Not Fourth Circuit

US v. Sturtz: Sturtz was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography and entered into a plea agreement with the Government to plead guilty to the possession count, while the distribution count was dismissed. The parties disagreed about whether a prior conviction from Maryland triggered the 10-year mandatory minimum for possession and, thus, the plea agreement explicitly reserved Sturtz’s ability to argue the point at sentencing. The plea agreement also included a waiver of appellate rights in which Sturtz agreed not to appeal any sentence below an offense level 30. That offense level, which was calculated in the PSR, produced an advisory Guideline range of 108 to 135 months, pending the resolution of the prior conviction issue. The district court concluded the prior conviction triggered the mandatory minimum and imposed a sentence of 120 months in prison.

The Fourth Circuit dismissed Sturtz’s appeal, rejecting his challenge to the district court’s ruling. The court found the waiver language “unambiguous” and applied, given the sentence Sturtz ultimately received. It rejected his argument that the waiver did not apply because the advisory Guideline range without the prior conviction enhancement was below 120 months “his sentence can be reviewed on appeal based on the exception allowing him to appeal a sentence that exceeds any sentence within the advisory guideline range.” The court also rejected the argument that the waiver only applied to a correctly calculated Guideline range.