IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED No. 12-30818 January 10, 2014 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff–Appellee, versus RICHARD A. HIGGINS,

Defendant–Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Before STEWART, Chief Judge, JOLLY and SMITH, Circuit Judges. JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

Richard Higgins pleaded guilty of receipt of child pornography and appeals his sentence. Appeal has been waived, so the appeal is dismissed.

I. In 1983, Higgins was convicted of crimes against nature and carnal knowledge of a juvenile under Louisiana law for engaging in fellatio and sexual Case: 12-30818 Document: 00512496730 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/10/2014

No. 12-30818 intercourse with his thirteen-year-old step-niece. In 2009, federal agents dis- covered, on Higgins’s computer, approximately 10,000 images and 2,500 videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children ranging in age from infants to fif- teen years. Higgins pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of materials involving sexual exploitation of minors and was sentenced to fifteen years of impris- onment and five years of supervised release (“SR”). At his rearraignment, Higgins entered into a plea agreement that included a general waiver of the right to appeal his sentence, reserving only the right to appeal “any punishment imposed in excess of the statutory maxi- mum.” 1 Although the district court did not question Higgins specifically regarding the waiver, it asked him about his reading and understanding of the plea agreement; it directed the prosecutor to show Higgins the agreement once again, to which Higgins responded that he had read it. The court then asked whether there were any provisions that Higgins did not understand, to which Higgins responded “No.” 2

1 “Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the defendant hereby expressly waives the right to appeal his sentence on any ground, including but not limited to any appeal right conferred by Title 18, United States Code, Section 3742 on the defendant, and the defen- dant further agrees not to contest his sentence in any post-conviction proceeding, including but not limited to a proceeding under Title 28, United States Code, Section 2255. The defen- dant, however, reserves the right to appeal any punishment imposed in excess of the statu- tory minimum.” 2 “The Court: Mr. [Prosecutor], would you show Mr. Higgins the plea agreement letter. I just need you to take a look at this, Mr. Hig- ins, and let me know if you have seen it before. The Defendant: Yeah, I saw it. The Court: Is there anything in that document you don’t understand? The Defendant: No. The Court: Does it reflect the agreement you have with the government with respect to these charges? The Defendant: Yes. 2 Case: 12-30818 Document: 00512496730 Page: 3 Date Filed: 01/10/2014

No. 12-30818 Additionally, the plea agreement acknowledged Higgins’s L