United States v. Mark Pickreign, 687 F. App'x 313

Defendant Mark Adam Pickreign pled guilty pursuant to a written plea agreement to theft of firearms from a licensed dealer (18 U.S.C. § 922(u)) and was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment.
The plea agreement contained a broad waiver of appellate rights as to the conviction and any sentence within the statutory maximum.
On appeal, defense counsel filed an Anders brief questioning whether the district court fully complied with Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 during the plea colloquy.
The Government moved to dismiss the appeal based on the appellate-waiver in the plea agreement.
The Fourth Circuit reviewed the validity of the appeal waiver and, despite the waiver, reviewed the Rule 11 colloquy for plain error because a knowing-and-voluntary-plea challenge cannot be waived.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Validity of appellate waiver	Waiver is not enforceable because plea colloquy omissions undermine voluntariness	Waiver is valid; entered knowingly and intelligently	Waiver valid; appeal dismissed as to waivable claims
Whether plea was knowing and voluntary under Rule 11	Omissions in plea colloquy warrant relief	Omissions were harmless; written plea and counsel review mitigated errors	Plain-error review: omissions did not affect substantial rights; plea valid
Scope of review despite waiver	All issues should be considered under Anders	Waiver precludes most appellate review except voluntariness claims	Court reviewed entire record per Anders but dismissed issues within waiver; affirmed other parts
Counsel's obligations post-opinion	Counsel should not be forced to pursue frivolous certiorari	Defendant may request Supreme Court petition; counsel may move to withdraw if frivolous	Counsel must notify defendant of certiorari right; may move to withdraw with notice if petition would be frivolous

Manigan v. United States, 592 F.3d 621 (4th Cir.) (standards for knowing, intelligent plea appellate waivers)
Johnson v. United States, 410 F.3d 137 (4th Cir.) (recognizing some claims cannot be waived by plea agreement)
Attar v. United States, 38 F.3d 727 (4th Cir.) (defendant cannot waive a colorable challenge to plea voluntariness)
Sanya v. United States, 774 F.3d 812 (4th Cir.) (plain-error review standard for unchallenged guilty pleas)
Massenburg v. United States, 564 F.3d 337 (4th Cir.) (absence of evidence that defendant would not have pleaded guilty supports voluntariness)
Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967) (procedures counsel must follow when filing a brief asserting no meritorious issues)