United States v. Dees

── United States v. Dees ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 16, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-1429 Document: 36 Date Filed: 04/16/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT April 16, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 25-1429 (D.C. No. 1:23-CR-00483-PAB-1) MEGAN ELIZABETH DEES, (D. Colo.) Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________ ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________ Before BACHARACH, KELLY, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ Megan Elizabeth Dees pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(viii). She was sentenced to 183 months in prison. Ms. Dees seeks to appeal her sentence, but the government has moved to enforce the appeal waiver contained in her plea agreement. See United States v. Hahn, 359 F.3d 1315, 1325 (10th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (per curiam). Ms. Dees’s attorney responded that it would be frivolous to oppose the government’s motion, and he requests to withdraw. See Anders v. California, * This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.  Appellate Case: 25-1429 Document: 36 Date Filed: 04/16/2026 Page: 2 386 U.S. 738, 744 (1967). We invited Ms. Dees to respond, but she has not done so. Our duty in these circumstances is to examine the record and decide whether opposing the government’s motion would be frivolous. See id. We conclude that it would, and that Ms. Dees’s appeal waiver is enforceable. We will enforce an appeal waiver if (1) the appeal falls within the waiver’s scope, (2) the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived the right to appeal, and (3) enforcing the waiver will not result in a miscarriage of justice. See Hahn, 359 F.3d at 1325. Scope of the Waiver “When construing an appellate waiver, we apply well-established contract principles and examine the plain language of the plea agreement.” United States v. Taylor, 413 F.3d 1146, 1151 (10th Cir. 2005) (internal quotation marks omitted). Ms. Dees waived the right to appeal her conviction and sentence, except if the district court imposed a sentence above the statutory maximum (life in prison) or her advisory guidelines range (183 to 228 months in prison). Ms. Dees’s sentence did not exceed the statutory maximum or the advisory guidelines range. Accordingly, her waiver covers this appeal. 1 1 Counsel notes that “Ms. Dees takes issue with the length of the sentence imposed and the district court’s pronouncement that the sentence run consecutive to [her] two pending state cases.” Anders Br. at 3. As noted above, Ms. Dees’s sentence does not fall outside the scope of her appeal waiver. And the district court had the discretion to impose a consecutive sentence, which the appeal waiver noted. 2  Appellate Case: 25-1429 Document: