United States v. Juan Perez

── United States v. Juan Perez ── Case No.: 25-11173 Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: March 10, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-11173 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 1 of 5 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-11173 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JUAN SEBASTIAN PEREZ, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 2:24-cr-00087-TPB-NPM-1 ____________________ Before ROSENBAUM, ABUDU, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Juan Perez appeals his total sentence of 360 months of im- prisonment after pleading guilty to child enticement, distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. On USCA11 Case: 25-11173 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 2 of 5 2 Opinion of the Court 25-11173 appeal, Perez argues that the district court abused its discretion by imposing an unreasonable sentence that placed undue weight on a single 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factor—the nature and circumstances of his offense—and by failing to consider mitigating factors in Perez’s case. The government moves to dismiss Perez’s appeal based on the appeal waiver in his plea agreement. After careful review, we conclude that Perez’s sentence ap- peal waiver was knowing and voluntary. So we grant the govern- ment’s motion to dismiss the appeal. We review de novo the validity and scope of an appeal- waiver provision in a plea agreement. See King v. United States, 41. F.4th 1363, 1366 (11th Cir. 2022). A defendant may waive his right of appeal if the waiver is knowing and voluntary. See United States v. Boyd, 975 F.3d 1185, 1190 (11th Cir. 2020). When a defendant has agreed to an appeal waiver but seeks to appeal matters within that waiver, the government may move to dismiss the appeal based upon the waiver. Id. (citation omitted). To enforce the appeal waiver, the government “must show that either (1) the district court specifically questioned the defendant concerning the sentence appeal waiver during the [plea] colloquy, or (2) it is manifestly clear from the record that the defendant oth- erwise understood the full significance of the waiver.” See id. (cit- ing United States v. Bushert, 997 F.2d 1343, 1351 (11th Cir. 1993)). “We have consistently enforced knowing and voluntary appeal waivers according to their terms.” United States v. Bascomb, 451 F.3d 1292, 1294 (11th Cir. 2006) (cleaned up). In reviewing plea USCA11 Case: 25-11173 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 03/10/2026 Page: 3 of 5 25-11173 Opinion of the Court 3 agreements, we give the terms of the agreement their plain and ordinary meaning. Boyd, 975 F.3d at 1190. Here, the government has shown that the appeal waiver is enforceable and bars this appeal. The written plea agreement con- tains a section clearly titled and underlined, “Defendant’s Waiver of Right to Appeal the Sentence.” In that provision, Perez ex- pressly “waiv[ed] [his] right to appeal [his] sentence on any ground, including the ground that the Court erred in determining the ap-