United States v. Eleuterio Ruiz-Salomon
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Eleuterio Saturnino Ruiz-Salomon appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea and his ten-year sentence for conspiring to manufacture marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)(vii), 846. We affirm.
We review the district court’s denial of Ruiz-Salomon’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea for abuse of discretion. United States v. Briggs, 623 F.3d 724, 727 (9th Cir.2010). We agree with the reasoning of the district court’s order denying Ruiz-Salomon’s withdrawal motion. RuizSalomon repeatedly acknowledged that he fully understood the consequences of his guilty plea. Indeed, at the plea colloquy, he stated himself, “I am pleading guilty just on my own volition....” Accordingly, Ruiz-Salomon’s purported reasons for withdrawing his guilty plea were directly contradicted by his signed plea petition and his statements under oath during the Rule 11 plea colloquy. Such statements “carry a strong presumption of veracity,” and the district court was entitled to rely on them in denying the withdrawal motion. United States v. Ross, 511 F.3d 1233, 1236-37 (9th Cir.2008); see also Briggs, 623 F.3d at 728 .