United States v. Ronald H. Semler

Ronald Semler was sentenced to three years in custody pursuant to a Fed.R. Crim.P. 11(e)(1)(C) plea agreement. He now appeals the district court’s denial of his Fed.R.Crim.P. 35(b) motion to reduce his sentence. We affirm.

I

Semler entered into a plea agreement with the government on February 10, 1988. Semler agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to impede the IRS, making false statements, and violations of the export laws. The government, in turn, agreed to dismiss two indictments against Semler. Semler and the government also agreed that Sem-ler would receive a total of “three years in custody” and be subject to a fine in the court’s discretion.

On February 10, the district court accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Sem-ler to three years and imposed a fine of $40,000.

On June 7, 1988, Semler filed a motion to modify his sentence pursuant to Rule 35(b). Semler asked the court to release him on probation, so that he could fund, develop and supervise a community service program for the benefit of disadvantaged children. On November 7, 1988, the district court denied Semler’s Rule 35 motion, explaining that “[t]his court’s acceptance of the binding Rule 11(e)(1)(C) plea…