THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS
PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

Jonathan Charles Johnson, Appellant.

Appeal From Richland County
 J. Ernest Kinard, Jr., Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2005-UP-338
Submitted May 1, 2005 – Filed May 18, 2005

APPEAL DISMISSED

Assistant Appellate Defender Robert M. Pachak, Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Office of the Attorney General, and  Solicitor Warren Blair Giese, all of Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Jonathan Johnson appeals his guilty plea for the charges of strong-arm robbery and second-degree burglary.  Based on a negotiated plea, the trial judge sentenced Johnson to fifteen years imprisonment on each of the charges.  The sentences were to be served consecutively.

Pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), counsel for Johnson attached to the final brief a petition to be relieved as counsel, stating he had reviewed the record and concluded Johnson’s appeal is without legal merit sufficient to warrant a new trial.  Johnson did not file a separate pro se response.

After a thorough review of the record pursuant to Anders and State v. Williams, 305 S.C. 116, 406 S.E.2d 357 (1991), we dismiss the appeal and grant counsel’s petition to be relieved.

APPEAL DISMISSED.[1]

HEARN, C.J., BEATTY and SHORT, JJ., concur.

[1]  Because oral argument would not aid the court in resolving the issues on appeal, we decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.