THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State,        Respondent,

v.

Lawrence J. Perea,         Appellant.

Appeal from Aiken County
James R. Barber, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2003-UP-504
Submitted May 30, 2003 � Filed August 27, 2003

APPEAL DISMISSED

Assistant Appellate Defender Eleanor Duffy Cleary, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, of Columbia, Barbara R. Morgan, Of Aiken, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:� Lawrence J. Perea appeals his convictions for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree burglary, and kidnapping.� The trial judge sentenced Perea to twenty-one years imprisonment for each charge.� After hearing a motion for reconsideration, the judge reduced the sentences to fourteen years imprisonment.� The sentences were to be served concurrently.

Pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), counsel for Perea attached to the final brief a petition to be relieved as counsel, stating she had reviewed the record and concluded Perea�s appeal is without legal merit sufficient to warrant a new trial.� Perea filed 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.

HEARN, C.J., CONNOR and ANDERSON, JJ., concur.