United States v. Almando Silda

── United States v. Almando Silda ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: May 19, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-12780 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 05/19/2026 Page: 1 of 4 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-12780 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus ALMANDO SILDA, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 8:24-cr-00430-KKM-TGW-7 ____________________ Before JORDAN, ROSENBAUM, and KIDD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 25-12780 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 05/19/2026 Page: 2 of 4 2 Opinion of the Court 25-12780 Almando Silva Hernandez 1 appeals his 120-month prison sentence, imposed after he pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana on a stateless vessel in international waters. See 46 U.S.C. §§ 70503(a), 70506(b). He ar- gues that the district court erred by denying relief under the safety valve, see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) & U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, and by failing to apply a two-level “zero-point” reduction under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, see U.S.S.G. § 4C1.1(a). The government has moved to dismiss Silva’s appeal based on the appeal waiver in his written plea agreement. After careful review, we grant the government’s mo- tion and dismiss the appeal. We review de novo the validity and scope of an appeal- waiver provision in a plea agreement. King v. United States, 41 F.4th 1363, 1366 (11th Cir. 2022). Sentence appeal waivers are enforcea- ble if they are made knowingly and voluntarily. Id. at 1367. “The government must show that either (1) the district court specifically questioned the defendant concerning the sentence appeal waiver during the Rule 11 colloquy, or (2) it is manifestly clear from the record that the defendant otherwise understood the full signifi- cance of the waiver.” United States v. Bushert, 997 F.2d 1343, 1351 (11th Cir. 1993). Here, the government has shown that Silva Hernandez’s ap- peal waiver is enforceable and bars this appeal. Silva Hernandez’s 1 During the change-of-plea hearing, Defendant and his attorney stated that his full name was Almando Reis Silva Hernandez—not “Silda” as alleged in the indictment—so we use the spelling “Silva” in this opinion. USCA11 Case: 25-12780 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 05/19/2026 Page: 3 of 4 25-12780 Opinion of the Court 3 plea agreement included a provision titled and underlined, “De- fendant’s Waiver of Right to Appeal the Sentence.” In that provi- sion, Silva Hernandez “expressly waive[d] the right to appeal [his] sentence on any ground, including the ground that the Court erred in determining the applicable guidelines range.” He retained the right to appeal on three limited grounds: (1) “the sentence exceeds the defendant’s applicable guidelines range as determined by the Court”; (2) “the sentence exceeds the statutory maximum penalty”; or (3) “the sentence violates the Eighth Amendment.” The waiver also did not apply if the government appealed. Silva Hernandez initialed the bottom of e