VITALIANO, District Judge.
Eduardo Osorio Viera is before the Court on his petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, challenging his sentence for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Judgment was entered on Viera's plea of guilty. Upon the findings stated below, the writ is denied.
On October 13, 2008, Viera arrived in New York at John F. Kennedy International Airport aboard a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") agents asked Viera about his travel plans, and noticed that he appeared unusually nervous. Viera
After his arrest, Viera agreed to be interviewed by DEA agents. He told the agents (1) the luggage containing the cocaine was his and had been packed by him; (2) the purpose of his trip was to visit his father in Connecticut, though he did not know Viera would be visiting; (3) he had agreed to transport the cocaine after being approached by an unknown male asking him to do so in exchange for an initial payment of $2500 and a second, smaller payment to be made after delivery of the cocaine; and (4) that he did not know to whom he was supposed to deliver the cocaine, but the person was to contact him by phone upon Viera's arrival in Connecticut. DEA laboratory results later revealed the net weight of the cocaine found in Viera's luggage was 3.004 kilograms with a purity of 81.6%.
On January 9, 2009, Viera was charged by a grand jury indictment with one count of possession of 500 grams or more of cocaine with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B)(ii)(II), which carried a mandatory minimum of five years imprisonment. The government offered Viera a disposition in which he would agree to plead guilty to a lesser-included offense that carried no mandatory minimum term of imprisonment, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C). Viera took the offer and, pursuant to the plea agreement, pled guilty before the Court on March 20, 2009 to a violation of §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C). Viera agreed, as part of the plea deal, that he would not "file an appeal or otherwise challenge, by petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 or any other provision, the conviction or sentence in the event that the Court imposes a term of imprisonment of 51 months or below." (Plea Agreement, at 3.)
After Viera's guilty plea, the Probation Department ("Probation"), in the ordinary fashion, prepared and issued a presentence report ("PSR"). See, e.g., United States v. Thomas, 628 F.3d 64, 67 (2d Cir.2010). Based on the net weight of the cocaine found in Viera's luggage, the PSR assigned a base offense level of 28. Probation then applied two downward adjustments. The first was a 4 point reduction because Viera's role was limited to that of a courier. The second was a 3 point reduction because Viera promptly accepted responsibility for his criminal actions. The PSR offense level calculation did not include any other downward adjustments, noting specifically that Viera was not eligible for a reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(b)(11) (a "safety valve" reduction) because the "Government has advised that [Viera] has not satisfied all five factors of [U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2] in that he has not truthfully provided all information he has concerning the offense." (PSR, at 4.) Thus, the PSR assigned Viera an adjusted total offense level of 21. Next, the PSR assigned Viera a criminal history category of I because he had no prior criminal involvement. Finally, the PSR explained that the advisory Guidelines imprisonment range for a defendant with an offense level of 21 and criminal history category of I was 37 to 46 months.
Viera did not object to the PSR's calculation of his Guidelines range, or Probation's determination that he was not eligible for the "safety valve." On October 16, 2009, the Court sentenced Viera, consistently with the PSR, to 37 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release. Judgment. United States v. Viera,
Viera, who appears pro se, presents two main arguments in his petition, which the Court, reading the petition liberally as it must, interprets as follows.
In any event, dispositively, both of these claims were waived in Viera's plea agreement. They are also barred by his failure to appeal, and regardless all else, lack merit.
A person who has been convicted and is currently a federal prisoner may petition the sentencing court to correct, vacate, or set aside the sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The grounds for relief are very limited. The § 2255 court may only grant relief if it concludes, "(1) `that the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States;' (2) `that the court was without jurisdiction to impose such sentence;' (3) `that the sentence was in excess of the `maximum authorized by law;' or (4) that the sentence `is otherwise subject to collateral attack.'" Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424, 426-27, 82 S.Ct. 468, 470, 7 L.Ed.2d 417 (1962).
Viera agreed not to file a § 2255 petition if the Court were to impose "a term of imprisonment of 51 months or below." (Plea Agreement, at 3.) Such agreements are generally enforceable if the defendant enters them knowingly and voluntarily. Garcia-Santos v. United States, 273 F.3d 506, 508 (2d Cir.2001) (holding that a defendant who knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to collaterally attack his sentence in a plea agreement was barred from challenging that sentence with a § 2255 petition). The Court sentenced Viera to less than 51 months in prison. Petitioner does not argue, much less allege facts to show, that his plea with waiver was not knowing and
Undeterred, with citation to his sentencing hearing, Viera contends he can bring his petition nonetheless because "[t]he court did not enforced (sic) the waiver." (Obj., at 2.) In other words, though his message is garbled, petitioner is apparently attacking the enforceability of his waiver because there was some defect in his sentencing hearing. But, that contention has no basis in fact or law. Indeed, it is contradicted by the very portion of the sentencing transcript to which Viera cites for support:
(Transcript of Sentencing, Oct. 16, 2009, at 14.) Moreover, the Court informed Viera during his plea allocution of the following:
and, more specifically:
(Transcript of Plea, March 20, 2009, at 13, 18.)
Viewing the entire record as a whole, Viera's assertion that the Court did not "enforce" the plea waiver is baseless. Just the opposite is true. Viera has validly waived his right to bring this petition, and nothing in the record suggests that waiver should not be enforced.
Viera's claims are also barred because he did not file a direct appeal. "In general, a defendant is barred from collaterally challenging a conviction under
Vierra does not provide any facts showing a cause for his failure to present available claims on direct appeal nor does he (or can he) argue he is actually innocent.
Finally, assuming arguendo that petitioner's claims were not waived by his plea agreement and barred by his failure to appeal, they are without basis in fact or law.
Viera argues that his Guidelines range was miscalculated regarding whether it was based on § 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) or § 841(b)(1)(C). (Pet., at 5.) But, Viera's Guidelines range would have been keyed to the same weight of the same drugs regardless of whether he was convicted under § 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) or § 841(b)(1)(C). See U.S.S.G § 2D1.1, n. 12 ("Types and quantities of drugs not specified in the count of conviction may be considered in determining the offense level"); United States v. Arthur, 232 F.Supp.2d 268, 272 (S.D.N.Y.2002). Since Viera does not dispute the type or weight of the drugs found in his suitcase, there, decisively, is no substantive basis for relief on this point.
Petitioner next argues that he met all conditions requisite to a "safety valve" reduction. (Pet., at 6; Obj., at 2) It is true that if a defendant satisfies the five criteria specified in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), then § 2D1.1 of the Guidelines allows for a two-point "safety valve" reduction in a defendant's offense level calculation. Viera's argument is directed at the fifth criterion, which requires that,
18 U.S.C. § 3553(f). Yet, he does not provide any facts demonstrating compliance with that requirement. Instead, he simply cites to United States v. Schreiber and United States v. Jeffers, which together hold that if a defendant makes a complete and truthful proffer at the start of his sentencing hearing, he complies with the fifth factor for a safety valve reduction even if he had previously committed perjury or lied to the government or obstructed its investigation. 191 F.3d 103 (2d Cir. 1999); 329 F.3d 94 (2d Cir.2003). Schreiber and Jeffers do not help petitioner.
The government represented at the time of sentencing that petitioner had not truthfully provided all information he had concerning the offense. (PSR, at 4; Sentencing Transcript, at 3.) And, though Viera may have implied that he did not agree with the government, (Sentencing Transcript, at 3 ("while my client's made full admissions to the Court, according to the government he has not qualified for the safety valve")), he offered nothing to refute the government's contention that he did not tell all that he knew about the offense and others involved.
For the foregoing reasons, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Eduardo Osorio Viera is dismissed and the writ is denied. Further, no certificate of appealability is granted with respect to any of petitioner's claims as he has made no substantial showing that he has been denied a constitutional right. Petitioner has a right to seek a certificate of appealability from the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253. Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 123 S.Ct. 1029, 154 L.Ed.2d 931 (2003).