Full title: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. JOSE MATEO-MORALES, Defendant.
Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF IOWA WESTERN DIVISION
No. CR12-4030-MWB
Date published: Apr 4, 2012
Fact:
In an Indictment returned on March 21, 2012, defendant Jose Mateo-Morales is charged with being a previously deported alien who was found in the United States without the express consent of the Attorney General or his successor, the Secretary for Homeland Security, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a). On April 3, 2012, defendant appeared before Chief United States Magistrate Judge Paul A. Zoss and entered a plea of guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment. On this same date, Judge Zoss filed a Report and Recommendation in which he recommends that defendant’s guilty plea be accepted. No objections to Judge Zoss’s Report and Recommendation were filed. Therefore, the court undertakes the necessary review of Judge Zoss’s recommendation to accept the defendant’s plea in this case.
Issue:
- Whether the court should accept defendant’s guilty plea based on the recommendation of Magistrate Judge Zoss.
Decision:
- The court reviews Magistrate Judge Zoss’s recommendation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), which allows the district court judge to accept, reject, or modify the magistrate judge’s findings or recommendations.
- No objections were filed to Magistrate Judge Zoss’s Report and Recommendation.
- In the absence of objections, the court reviews the recommendation under a clearly erroneous standard.
- After reviewing the recommendation, the court finds no clear error and accepts Judge Zoss’s Report and Recommendation.
- Therefore, the court accepts defendant’s guilty plea to Count 1 of the Indictment.