United States v. Christopher Angel

── United States v. Christopher Angel ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: May 04, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-13383 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 05/04/2026 Page: 1 of 5 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-13383 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus CHRISTOPHER JUSTIN ANGEL, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 4:25-cr-00022-WMR-1 ____________________ Before NEWSOM, BRASHER, and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Christopher Justin Angel appeals his below-guideline 48- month sentence of imprisonment for possession of child pornogra- phy, seeking to challenge the reasonableness of his sentence. The USCA11 Case: 25-13383 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 05/04/2026 Page: 2 of 5 2 Opinion of the Court 25-13383 government, in turn, moves to dismiss the appeal based on the sen- tence appeal waiver in Angel’s plea agreement. After careful re- view, 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 voluntar- ily waived his right to appeal his sentence. United States v. Benitez- Zapata, 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). Here, the record shows that Angel 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”: USCA11 Case: 25-13383 Document: 34-1 Date Filed: 05/04/2026 Page: 3 of 5 25-13383 Opinion of the Court 3 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 any ground, except that the Defendant may file a di- rect appeal of an upward departure or upward vari- ance above the sentencing guideline range as calcu-