United States v. Wilfort Foster, III

── United States v. Wilfort Foster, III ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 30, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-12776 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 04/30/2026 Page: 1 of 5 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-12776 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus WILFORT FOSTER, III, a.k.a. Bubba, a.k.a. Bro Bro, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 4:22-cr-00017-WMR-WEJ-1 ____________________ Before JILL PRYOR, BRANCH, and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 25-12776 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 04/30/2026 Page: 2 of 5 2 Opinion of the Court 25-12776 Wilfort Foster, III appeals his convictions and sentences for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and money laundering, seeking to argue that the dis- trict court imposed a procedurally and substantively unreasonable sentence. The government, in turn, moves to dismiss Foster’s ap- peal pursuant to the sentence appeal waiver in his plea agreement. After thorough review, we dismiss the appeal. We review the validity of a sentence appeal waiver de novo. United States v. Johnson, 541 F.3d 1064, 1066 (11th Cir. 2008). We also review de novo whether a defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal his sentence. United States v. Benitez-Za- pata, 131 F.3d 1444, 1446 (11th Cir. 1997). A sentence appeal waiver found in a plea agreement will be enforced if it was made knowingly and voluntarily. United States v. Bushert, 997 F.2d 1343, 1350 (11th Cir. 1993). To establish that a sentence appeal waiver was made knowingly and voluntarily, the government must show either that: (1) the district court specifically questioned the defendant about the waiver during the plea collo- quy; or (2) the record makes clear that the defendant otherwise un- derstood the full significance of the waiver. Id. at 1351; see also Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(1)(N) (requiring that the district court inform the defendant of the terms of an appeal waiver). The touchstone for assessing whether an appeal waiver was knowing and voluntary is whether it was clearly conveyed to the defendant that he was giv- ing up his right to appeal under most circumstances. United States v. Boyd, 975 F.3d 1185, 1192 (11th Cir. 2020). USCA11 Case: 25-12776 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 04/30/2026 Page: 3 of 5 25-12776 Opinion of the Court 3 Here, the record shows that Foster knowingly and voluntar- ily waived the right to appeal his sentence. His plea agreement contained this language under the heading titled “Limited Waiver of Appeal”: To the maximum extent permitted by federal law, the Defendant voluntarily and expressly waives the right to appeal his conviction and sentence and the right to collaterally attack his conviction and sentence in any post-conviction proceeding (including, but not lim- ited to, motions filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255) on