United States v. Hoskins

905 F.3d 97
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit·Decided September 26, 2018·No. Docket No. 17-70-cr; August Term, 2017·Published·Cited by 63 cases

Opinion

Hall, Circuit Judge:

We are asked to decide whether a defendant asserts a cognizable claim when he seeks to challenge through a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion a sentence imposed pursuant to the district court's adoption of the parties' Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement where a judgment on a predicate offense that factored into the Guidelines analysis for his sentencing has since been vacated. Because this defendant has failed to show on the record before us that the original sentence, if allowed to stand, effects a miscarriage of justice, we hold it was error to vacate that sentence in the § 2255 proceedings. The judgment of the district court imposing the reduced sentence in the § 2255 proceedings is thus vacated, and we remand for the district court to reinstate the original sentence.

I.

On May 22, 2012, Defendant-Appellant Brian Hoskins ("Hoskins") pled guilty in accordance with the parties' binding Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement to one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing cocaine base, a schedule II controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). The agreement provided for Hoskins to be sentenced to 112 months' imprisonment, five years of supervised release, and assessed a $100.00 penalty.

Hoskins's Presentence Report ("PSR"), the Government's Sentencing Memorandum, *100and Defendant's Motion for Variance and Sentencing Memorandum all identified the defendant as a "career offender" under the Sentencing Guidelines due to two predicate felony offenses: a 2002 Vermont drug conviction, and a 2003 federal drug conviction.1 Such a classification raised his Guidelines offense level from 20 to 32. See U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1 (2011) ("Guidelines"). As a result, Hoskins's calculated Guidelines range, with a downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility, recommended a prison sentence of 151 to 188 months. The calculated Guidelines range, if Hoskins were not a career offender, would have been 100 to 125 months.

The parties' Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement and their sentencing memoranda urged the district court to adopt the agreement and impose a sentence of 112 months. At the sentencing hearing in May 2012 the district court found that Hoskins qualified as a career offender subject to "[e]nhanced penalties" under the relevant Guidelines provisions. App'x at 76. Nevertheless, after considering the sentencing factors specified in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), the district court accepted the parties' Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement and sentenced Hoskins to a below-Guidelines prison term of 112 months, explaining that "the career offender category [had] substantially increased his Guidelines range," that the agreed-to term of 112 months was substantial enough to encourage deterrence, and that the sentence was thus appropriate. App'x at 77-78. Hoskins did not appeal.

In May 2013, Hoskins collaterally challenged his 2002 Vermont drug conviction, which was also obtained by guilty plea. In March 2015, the Vermont Superior Court vacated the state conviction, identifying procedural errors in the plea colloquy. See Hoskins v. Vermont , No. 574-5-13-Cncv (Vt. Sup. Ct. Mar. 31, 2015).2 Specifically, it faulted the sentencing court for relying on defense counsel's representation that there was a factual basis for the plea rather than eliciting the relevant facts directly from Hoskins as required by Vermont Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(f). See id. at 2.3

*101Hoskins filed this § 2255 motion in December 2015, challenging the federal sentence imposed pursuant to the Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement. Hoskins argued that his "sentence was driven by the fact that the Court determined that [he] qualified as a career offender based on his prior federal conviction as well as a Vermont state conviction," a determination rendered invalid by the vacatur of the Vermont conviction. App'x at 83. In other words, Hoskins maintained that because his 2002 Vermont drug conviction was vacated, he was entitled to a reduced sentence, and the continued imposition of the formerly agreed-upon 112-month sentence was a miscarriage of justice.

The Government argued in opposition that Hoskins was not entitled to collateral relief because: (i) he was not serving a " 'career offender sentence'-he [was] serving a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) sentence" that he bargained for, in part, to avoid the government's pursuit of additional charges and an enhanced mandatory minimum sentence of ten years; (ii) the 112-month Rule 11(c)(1)(C) sentence did not fall within Hoskins's applicable Guidelines range as a career offender but, rather, fell within the middle of the Guidelines range that would have applied without career offender enhancements; and (iii) Hoskins's motion was untimely because more than a year had elapsed between the time Hoskins was sentenced and when he challenged the 2002 state conviction. App'x at 106.

The motion was referred to Magistrate Judge Conroy, who issued a Report and Recommendation ("the R&R"). The magistrate judge first recommended that Hoskins's § 2255 motion be found timely. Next, the magistrate judge recommended that the district court hold that Hoskins's § 2255 motion raises a cognizable collateral attack on his original sentence, even though Hoskins had entered into a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement. The magistrate judge determined that "Hoskins's[ ] now-vacated state conviction clearly led to a significant enhancement of his sentence." App'x at 286. This conclusion was based on e-mails between counsel during plea negotiations discussing the applicable career offender Guidelines range, the PSR's reliance on the Guidelines' career offender provisions in calculating Hoskins's recommended sentencing range, and the district court's own career offender Guidelines calculations before accepting the parties' Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement at the 2012 sentencing.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

United States v. Hoskins, 905 F.3d 97 (2d Cir. 2018).

905 F.3d 97 (United States v. Hoskins) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Chambers v. United States
D. Connecticut, 2025
Jefferson v. United States
D. Connecticut, 2025
Johnson v. United States
S.D. New York, 2025
Brodie v. United States
D. Connecticut, 2025
Martinez v. United States
S.D. New York, 2025
Herrera v. United States
S.D. New York, 2025
Roye v. United States
D. Connecticut, 2025
Bright v. United States
S.D. New York, 2024
Burden v. United States
D. Connecticut, 2024
United States v. Tenney
District of Columbia, 2024
Silverio v. United States
S.D. New York, 2024
United States v. Fnu Lnu
Second Circuit, 2024
Colon v. United States
S.D. New York, 2024
Singh v. United States
D. Connecticut, 2024
Garrison v. United States
S.D. New York, 2024
Pena v. United States
S.D. New York, 2024
Mack v. United States
D. Connecticut, 2024