Filed: Jun. 10, 2014
Latest Update: Jun. 10, 2014
Summary: MEMORANDUM OPINION STANLEY R. CHESLER, District Judge. This matter comes before the Court upon Petitioner's amended 2255 motion. See ECF No. 3. 1 Petitioner "was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute at least 50 grams of crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846, and two counts of distributing crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841. Each count carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.... After a three-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all th
Summary: MEMORANDUM OPINION STANLEY R. CHESLER, District Judge. This matter comes before the Court upon Petitioner's amended 2255 motion. See ECF No. 3. 1 Petitioner "was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute at least 50 grams of crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846, and two counts of distributing crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841. Each count carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.... After a three-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all thr..
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
STANLEY R. CHESLER, District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court upon Petitioner's amended § 2255 motion. See ECF No. 3.1 Petitioner "was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute at least 50 grams of crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and two counts of distributing crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841. Each count carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.... After a three-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all three counts. [This] Court sentenced [Petitioner] to 10 years' imprisonment on each count, to be served concurrently." United States v. Buckuse, USCA No. 11-3594, at 3-5 (July 9, 2012). Petitioner appealed, and the Court of Appeals "affirm[ed] the final judgment of conviction and sentence imposed by [this] Court." Id. at 8. On January 7, 2013, the United States Supreme Court denied Petitioner's application for certiorari. See Buckuse v. United States, 133 S.Ct. 903 (2013). On January 10, 2014, the Clerk received Petitioner's original § 2255 motion dated January 6, 2014. See ECF No. 1, at 6. The original motion was superseded by the amended motion at bar, which states that "[t]he sole issue presented in the instant motion became available only due to the United States Supreme Court's recent decision in Alleyne v. United States, 133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013)." ECF No. 3, at 11. Elaborating on that claim, Petitioner asserts that this "Court infringed on [Petitioner's] Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial by imposing a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years." Id. at 5.
According to the Third Circuit,
"Alleyne is essentially an extension of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000): in Apprendi, the Court held that . . ., `other than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury . . .,' Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 490, [while] in Alleyne, the Court held that the same rule applies also to `facts that increase mandatory minimum sentences,' Alleyne, 133 S. Ct. at 2163.
Sacksith v. Warden Canaan USP, 552 F. App'x 108, 108 (3d Cir. 2014) (brackets omitted).2 Alleyne has not been made retroactive to cases on collateral review, § 2255 proceedings included. See United States v. Winkelman, 746 F.3d 134, 135 (3d Cir. 2014). Petitioner's reliance on Alleyne in this § 2255 action is therefore wholly misplaced. Moreover, since Petitioner was never charged with "brandishing" a firearm, under § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), and his sentence was never enhanced by this Court, the facts of his conviction are inapposite to Alleyne.
Therefore, his motion will be denied, and no certificate of appealability will issue.3 An appropriate Order follows.
