JAMES M. MUNLEY, District Judge.
Before the court for disposition is Defendant Krishna Mote's (hereinafter "defendant") motion
A federal grand jury indicted Defendant Mote on April 4, 2007 on charges of conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base and more than 500 grams of cocaine and distribution of cocaine base. (No. 7-144, Doc. 1). Defendant Mote pled not guilty on March 15, 2010. (No. 7-144, Doc. 592). On May 26, 2011, the court dismissed that indictment without prejudice under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161, et seq. (No. 7-144, Doc. 675).
Defendant Mote was then indicted on June 7, 2011, on charges of conspiracy to distribute in excess of 280 grams of cocaine base and more than 500 grams of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, and distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base as an aider and abettor, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. (Doc. 1).
The U.S. Attorney filed an information of prior convictions of controlled substance offenses on September 26, 2012, detailing defendant's felony convictions for distribution in Massachusetts in 1989, 1990, and 1994. (Doc. 57). That filing also provided notice that defendant's prior felony drug convictions would enhance defendant's sentence, if convicted, to mandatory minimums of life imprisonment for the conspiracy charge and thirty (30) years for the distribution charge, and potential fines of up to $10,000,000. (
The court held a three-day trial beginning on December 4, 2012. Defendant represented himself at trial.
Defendant filed a motion seeking a new trial, which the court denied on May 7, 2013. (Doc. 132). On January 31, 2014, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence.
Defendant filed the current motion on September 3, 2014. (Doc. 140). The parties then briefed the issues, bringing the case to its current procedural posture.
As defendant brings his motion under section 2255, we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 ("The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of defendant's trial. (Doc. 95). all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States."). We also have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 ("Writs of habeas corpus may be granted by . . . the district courts[.]").
A federal prisoner in custody under the sentence of a federal court may, within one year from when the judgment becomes final,
Section 2255, however, does not afford a remedy for all errors that may have been made at trial or sentencing.
Defendant's motion raises the claim that his conviction and sentence resulted from unconstitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees criminal defendants the right to counsel. The United States Supreme Court has found that "the right to counsel is the right to the effective assistance of counsel."
Thus, under
To satisfy the second factor of the
Relief under section 2255 for ineffectiveness of counsel is only available to defendants who make adequate showings with respect to both factors of the
Defendant Mote claims that his attorney, Brandon Reish, provided ineffective assistance in three ways: 1) prior to trial and on appeal, Reish failed to challenge Mote's second indictment on double jeopardy grounds; 2) during sentencing and on appeal, Reish failed to object to Mote's career offender status and failed to challenge an ex post facto application of the Fair Sentencing Act; and 3) prior to trial and on appeal, Reish failed to challenge an invalid arrest warrant. We address these claims in turn.
As noted above, the government indicted the defendant twice. The court dismissed the first indictment, and the jury convicted him on the second. Defendant claims that when the government re-indicted him, he was subjected to double jeopardy in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which provides that no "person shall be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." Defendant's first indictment was dismissed under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3163 (c)(1),
Defendant received a sentence of life imprisonment on the conspiracy charge and thirty (30) years on the distribution charge, to run concurrently. Defendant claims that Attorney Reish should have challenged the bases for his life sentence. Defendant argues that Attorney Reish should have challenged his sentence based on an improper application of career offender status and an ex post facto application of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (hereinafter "FSA"), 124 Stat. 2372. Defendant's arguments fundamentally misunderstand the basis for his sentence.
Defendant's life sentence was the mandatory minimum sentence under 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and (b)(1)(A), 846, and 851, based upon his prior felony convictions for drug offenses. Section 841 mandates that for anyone who distributes 280 grams or more of cocaine base, that "after two or more prior convictions for a felony drug offense have become final, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without release."
Thus, the life sentence was not the result of a finding that defendant was a career offender, nor did the FSA affect the length of defendant's sentence. In fact, the only effect the FSA had on defendant's case flowed in defendant's favor, by raising the quantity of cocaine base that the government was required to prove to trigger mandatory minimum sentences. The jury expressly found that defendant conspired to distribute more than 280 grams of cocaine base, satisfying the FSA's heightened requirement and triggering defendant's life sentence. Moreover, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reviewed defendant's sentence, and concluded that "with three prior felony drug convictions, the District Court properly sentenced him to a mandated life imprisonment."
Thus, defendant's assertion that Attorney Reish was remiss in not challenging the sentence on these grounds is without basis.
Defendant's final claim is that his attorney was ineffective because he failed to challenge defendant's arrest warrant. Mote argues that the warrant was invalid because it was not based on a complaint or an affidavit of probable cause, and because the warrant did not bear a judge's signature. These arguments are meritless. The warrant was issued after a grand jury returned an indictment (Doc. 1), which is a finding of probable cause.
In defendant's reply brief he requests an evidentiary hearing. The request will be denied. A movant under section 2255 is entitled to a hearing unless the record conclusively establishes that he is not entitled to relief.
For the foregoing reasons, defendant's motion will be