Case Information
*1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA WESTERN DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, No. 06-CR-4086-DEO vs. ORDER REGARDING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING ROSA MARIA TERESA MONTANEZ- GUILTY PLEA FERNANDEZ, a/k/a Thelma Rendon; a/k/a Leticia Ann
Martinez,
Defendant. ____________________ I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
On September 20, 2006, a one Count Indictment (Docket No.
1, 09/20/2006) was returned against defendant Rosa Maria Teresa Montanez-Fernandez; a/k/a Thelma Rendon; a/k/a Leticia Ann Martinez.
Count 1 of that Indictment charges that on or about April 5, 2006, in the Northern District of Iowa, that the defendant, Rosa Maria Teresa Montanez-Fernandez; a/k/a Thelma Rendon, a/k/a Leticia Ann Martinez, an alien who had been previously removed and deported on November 14, 2003, was found, knowingly and unlawfully, in the United States, in Crawford County, Iowa, after re-entering the United States without first obtaining the consent to apply for readmission into the *2 United States from either the United States Attorney General or Secretary for Homeland Security, all in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a).
Notice was provided in the Indictment that Rosa Maria Teresa Montanez-Fernandez a/k/a Thelma Rendon, a/k/a Leticia Ann Martinez, was convicted on January 6, 2003, in the Iowa District Court for Crawford County of theft 3rd degree and sentenced to two years; and sale of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, in Case No. 96-37838 on October 21, 1996, and sentenced to two years. Pursuant to Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(b), these prior convictions increase the maximum statutory sentence that can be imposed upon a conviction for this charge.
On February 28, 2007, defendant Rosa Maria Teresa Martinez appeared before United States Chief Magistrate Judge Paul A. Zoss and entered a plea of guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment. On the same date, United States Chief Magistrate Judge Zoss filed a Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 18, 02/28/2007) in which he recommends that defendant Rosa Maria Teresa Montanez-Fernandez a/k/a Thelma Rendon, a/k/a Leticia *3 Ann Martinez’s guilty plea be accepted. No objections to Chief Magistrate Judge Zoss’s Report and Recommendation were filed. The Court, therefore, undertakes the necessary review of Chief Magistrate Judge Zoss’s recommendation to accept defendant Rosa Maria Teresa Montanez-Fernandez a/k/a Thelma Rendon, a/k/a Leticia Ann Martinez’s plea in this case.
II. ANALYSIS A. Standard of Review Pursuant to statue, this Court’s standard of review for a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation is as follows:
A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate [judge].
28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Similarly, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b) provides for review of a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation on dispositive motions and prisoner petitions, where objections are made as follows:
The district judge to whom the case is assigned shall make a de novo determination upon the record, or after additional evidence, of any portion of the magistrate judge’s disposition to which specific *4 written objection has been made in accordance with this rule. The district judge may accept, reject, or modify the recommendation decision, receive further evidence, or recommit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions. FED. R. CIV. P. 72(b).
In this case, no objections have been filed, and it appears to the Court upon review of Chief Magistrate Judge Zoss’s findings and conclusions that there are no grounds to reject or modify them.
IT IS THEREFORE HEREBY ORDERED that this Court accepts Chief Magistrate Judge Zoss’s Report and Recommendation (Docket No. 18), and accepts defendant Rosa Maria Teresa Martinez’s plea of guilty in this case to Count 1 of the Indictment filed on September 20, 2006 (Docket No. 1).
IT IS SO ORDERED this 27th day of April, 2007. __________________________________ Donald E. O’Brien, Senior Judge United States District Court Northern District of Iowa