JAMES S. MOODY, Jr., District Judge.
BEFORE THE COURT is Petitioner's Motion to Vacate, Set Aside or Correct Sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 ("Section 2255 motion") (CV Dkts. 1, 2). After conducting the review required by Rule 4(b), Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings,
On April 24, 2007, Petitioner pleaded guilty pursuant to a written plea agreement to Count One of the Indictment which charged Petitioner with felon in possession of firearms and ammunition (CR Dkts. 31, 41, 56). On September 5, 2007, Petitioner was sentenced to one hundred three (103) months of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release (CR Dkt. 120).
Petitioner did not file a direct appeal. Petitioner signed his Section 2255 motion on June 5, 2014 (CV Dkt. 1 at docket p. 12). Relying on Alleyne v. United States, 133 S.Ct. 2151 (2013), Petitioner challenges the sentence he received for violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2).
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act ("AEDPA"), effective April 24, 1996, establishes a one-year limitation period for Section 2255 motions. See Goodman v. United States, 151 F.3d 1335, 1336 (11th Cir. 1998). Specifically, Section 2255 provides that the one-year limitation shall run from the latest of:
28 U.S.C. § 2255(f). See also Pruitt v. United States, 274 F.3d 1315, 1317 (11th Cir. 2001).
The Amended Judgment in Petitioner's criminal case was entered on October 27, 2008 (CR Dkt.120). Because Petitioner did not file a direct appeal, his judgment of conviction became "final" under § 2255(f)(1) ten business days later on November 10, 2008, when the time for filing an appeal expired. See Adams v. United States, 173 F.3d 1339, 1342 (11th Cir. 1999). Petitioner therefore had one year from that date, November 10, 2009, to file his Section 2255 motion. He did not file the Section 2255 motion until June 5, 2014, more than four years after the limitation period expired.
Apparently recognizing the untimeliness of his Section 2255 motion under 2255(f)(1), Petitioner appears to argue entitlement to a delayed start of the one-year limitation under 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f)(3) based upon rights newly recognized by the Supreme Court in Alleyne. Nevertheless, Petitioner cannot avail himself of a delayed start under Section 2255(f)(3) because Alleyne does not apply retroactively to cases on collateral review. See Chester v. Warden, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 611, 2014 WL 104150, *4 (11th Cir. Jan. 13, 2014) ("Alleyne's rule does not apply retroactively on collateral review.") (citations omitted).
Because Petitioner cannot avail himself of a delayed start to the one-year limitation under § 2255(f) (3), his Section 2255 motion is untimely, precluding federal review absent a demonstration of equitable tolling.
For the reasons indicated above, the alternative commencement dates provided by § 2255(f) (3) or by application of equitable tolling do not apply in Petitioner's case. Consequently, the timeliness of Petitioner's Section 2255 motion is calculated from November 10, 2008, the date that his conviction became final. See 28 U.S.C. § 2255(f)(1). Petitioner's Section 2255 motion, filed on June 5, 2014, is untimely, precluding federal review.
Petitioner appears to contend that even if his Section 2255 motion is time-barred, he is entitled to review of his claim because his sentence constitutes a "miscarriage of justice." Review of an untimely Section 2255 motion is appropriate upon a showing that a "fundamental miscarriage of justice" has occurred, whereby "a constitutional violation has resulted in the conviction of someone who is actually innocent." Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 495-96 (1986). See also, McQuiggin v. Perkins, ___ U.S. ____, 133 S.Ct. 1924, 1928 (n2013) ("We hold that actual innocence, if proved, serves as a gateway through which a petitioner may pass whether the impediment is a procedural bar . . . or . . . expiration of the statute of limitations."). Actual innocence applies when a petitioner is factually innocent of the crime for which he is incarcerated. See Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. 614, 623 (1998).
Petitioner neither alleges nor presents evidence establishing that he is factually innocent of the charge to which he pleaded guilty in his criminal case.
Even if the Section 2255 motion were not time-barred, it would fail for lack of merit. Petitioner's claim relies on Alleyne, which does not apply to his case. In Alleyne, the Supreme Court held that "any fact that increases [a] mandatory minimum [sentence] is an `element' that must be submitted to the jury." 133 S.Ct. at 2155.
Petitioner does not contend that he was subjected to a mandatory minimum sentence that was increased due to judicial fact-finding. Rather, he argues that this Court's calculation of his base offense level violated Alleyne because it constituted judicial fact-finding, under a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, of an offense element that was not alleged in the Indictment and proved beyond a reasonable doubt (CV Dkt. 2). Alleyne is therefore inapplicable to Petitioner's case because the fact-finding affected only Petitioner's sentencing guidelines range and did not increase a mandatory minimum sentence.
Accordingly, it is
1. Petitioner's Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (CV Dkts. 1, 2) is
2. The